
CopyrightlSi 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSfT. 



r 1 




MAECO POLO. 



APPLETONS' HOME READING BOOKS 



THE ADVENTURES 
OF MARCO POLO 

M 

THE GREAT TRAVELER 



EDITED BY 

EDWARD ATHERTON 



1~ 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1902 



THF^IBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

JUL. 26 1902 

Copyright entry 

CLASS <Xj XXa No. 
i / <\ I % 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 









.• «• • ' 



« -•• •' . 



TO 

WILLIAM HAGUE 



INTRODUCTION TO THE HOME BEADING 
BOOK SEEIES BY THE EDITOK 



The new education takes two important direc- 
tions—one of these is toward original observation, 
requiring the pupil to test and verify what is taught 
him at school by his own experiments. The infor- 
mation that he learns from books or hears from his 
teacher's lips must be assimilated by incorporating it 
with his own experience. 

The other direction pointed out by the new edu- 
cation is systematic home reading. It forms a part of 
school extension of all kinds. The so-called " Univer- 
sity Extension " that originated at Cambridge and Ox- 
ford has as its chief feature the aid of home reading by 
lectures and round-table discussions, led or conducted 
by experts who also lay out the course of reading. 
The Chautauquan movement in this country prescribes 
a series of excellent books and furnishes for a goodly 
number of its readers annual courses of lectures. The 
teachers' reading circles that exist in many States pre- 
scribe the books to be read, and publish some analysis, 
commentary, or catechism to aid the members. 

Home reading, it seems, furnishes the essential 
basis of this great movement to extend education 



viii THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

beyond the school and to make self -culture a habit 
of life. 

Looking more carefully at the difference between 
the two directions of the new education we can see 
what each accomplishes. There is first an effort to 
train the original powers of the individual and make 
him self -active, quick at observation, and free in his 
thinking. Next, the new education endeavors, by the 
reading of books and the study of the wisdom of the 
race, to make the child or youth a participator in the 
results of experience of all mankind. 

These two movements may be made antagonistic 
by poor teaching. The book knowledge, containing as 
it does the precious lesson of human experience, may 
be so taught as to bring with it only dead rules of 
conduct, only dead scraps of information, and no 
stimulant to original thinking. Its contents may be 
memorized without being understood. On the other 
hand, the self -activity of the child may be stimulated 
at the expense of his social well-being — his originality 
may be cultivated at the expense of his rationality. 
If he is taught persistently to have his own way, to 
trust only his own senses, to cling to his own opinions 
heedless of the experience of his fellows, he is pre- 
paring for an unsuccessful, misanthropic career, and 
is likely enough to end his life in a madhouse. 

It is admitted that a too exclusive study of the 
knowledge found in books, the knowledge which is 
aggregated from the experience and thought of other 
people, may result in loading the mind of the pupil 
with material which he can not use to advantage. 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION i x 

Some minds are so full of lumber that there is no 
space left to set up a workshop. The necessity of 
uniting both of these directions of intellectual activity 
in the schools is therefore obvious, but we must not, 
in this place, fall into the error of supposing that it is 
the oral instruction in school and the personal influ- 
ence of the teacher alone that excites the pupil to ac- 
tivity. Book instruction is not always dry and theo- 
retical. The very persons who declaim against the 
book, and praise in such strong terms the self -activity 
of the pupil and original research, are mostly persons 
who have received their practical impulse from read- 
ing the writings of educational reformers. Yery few 
persons have received an impulse from personal con- 
tact with inspiring teachers compared with the num- 
ber that have been aroused by reading such books as 
Herbert Spencer's Treatise on Education, Rousseau's 
Emile, Pestalozzi's Leonard and Gertrude, Francis 
W. Parker's Talks about Teaching, G. Stanley 
Hall's Pedagogical Seminary. Think in this connec- 
tion, too, of the impulse to observation in natural sci- 
ence produced by such books as those of Hugh Miller, 
Faraday, Tyndall, Huxley, Agassiz, and Darwin. 

The new scientific book is different from the old. 
The old style book of science gave dead results where 
the new one gives not only the results, but a minute 
account of the method employed in reaching those re- 
sults. An insight into the method employed in dis- 
covery trains the reader into a naturalist, an historian, 
a sociologist. The books of the writers above named 
have done more to stimulate original research on the 



x THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 

part of their readers than all other influences com- 
bined. 

It is therefore much more a matter of importance 
to get the right kind of book than to get a living 
teacher. The book which teaches results, and at the 
same time gives in an intelligible manner the steps of 
discovery and the methods employed, is a book 
which will stimulate the student to repeat the ex- 
periments described and get beyond them into fields 
of original research himself. Every one remem- 
bers the published lectures of Faraday on chemistry, 
which exercised a wide influence in changing the 
style of books on natural science, causing them to 
deal with method more than results, and thus train 
the reader's power of conducting original research. 
Robinson Crusoe for nearly two hundred years has 
aroused the spirit of adventure and prompted young 
men to resort to the border lands of civilization. A 
library of home reading should contain books that in- 
cite to self -activity and arouse the spirit of inquiry. 
The books should treat of methods of discovery and 
evolution. All nature is unified by the discovery of 
the law of evolution. Each and every being in the 
world is now explained by the process of development 
to which it belongs. Every fact now throws light on 
all the others by illustrating the process of growth in 
which each has its end and aim. 

The Home Reading Books are to be classed as 
follows : 

First Division. Natural history, including popular 
scientific treatises on plants and animals, and also de- 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION x { 

ecriptions of geographical localities. The "branch of 
study in the district school course which corresponds 
to this is geography. Travels and sojourns in distant 
lands ; special writings which treat of this or that 
animal or plant, or family of animals or plants ; any- 
thing that relates to organic nature or to meteorol- 
ogy, or descriptive astronomy may be placed in this 
class. 

Second Division. Whatever relates to physics or 
natural philosophy, to the statics or dynamics of air or 
water or light or electricity, or to the properties of 
matter ; whatever relates to chemistry, either organic 
or inorganic — books on these subjects belong to the 
class that relates to what is inorganic. Even the so- 
called organic chemistry relates to the analysis of 
organic bodies into their inorganic compounds. 

Third Division. History, biography, and ethnol- 
ogy. Books relating to the lives of individuals; to 
the social life of the nation ; to the collisions of na- 
tions in war, as well as to the aid that one nation 
gives to another through commerce in times of peace ; 
books on ethnology relating to the modes of life of 
savage or civilized peoples ; on primitive manners 
and customs — books on these subjects belong to the 
third class, relating particularly to the human will, 
not merely the individual will but the social will, 
the will of the tribe or nation ; and to this third 
class belong also books on ethics and morals, and 
on forms of government and laws, and what is in- 
cluded under the term civics, or the duties of citi- 
zenship. 



xii THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Fourth Division. The fourth class of books in- 
cludes more especially literature and works that make 
known the beautiful in such departments as sculpture, 
painting, architecture and music. Literature and art 
show human nature in the form of feelings, emotions, 
and aspirations, and they show how these feelings 
lead over to deeds and to clear thoughts. This de- 
partment of books is perhaps more important than 
any other in our home reading, inasmuch as it teaches 
a knowledge of human nature and enables us to un- 
derstand the motives that lead our fellow-men to 
action. 

Plan for Use as Supplementary Reading 

The first work of the child in the school is to 
learn to recognize in a printed form the words that 
are familiar to him by ear. These words constitute 
what is called the colloquial vocabulary. They are 
words that he has come to know from having heard 
them used by the members of his family and by his 
playmates. He uses these words himself with con- 
siderable skill, but what he knows by ear he does not 
yet know by sight. It will require many weeks, 
many months even, of constant effort at reading the 
printed page to bring him to the point where the 
sight of the written word brings up as much to his 
mind as the sound of the spoken word. But patience 
and practice will by and by make the printed word 
far more suggestive than the spoken word, as every 
scholar may testify. 

In order to bring about this familiarity with the 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION" x iii 

printed word it has been found necessary to re-en- 
force the reading in the school by supplementary 
reading at home. Books of the same grade of diffi- 
culty with the reader used in school are to be pro- 
vided for the pupil. They must be so interesting 
to him that he will read them at home, using his time 
before and after school, and even his holidays, for 
this purpose. 

But this matter of familiarizing the child with the 
printed word is only one half of the object aimed at 
by the supplementary home reading. He should 
read that which interests him. He should read that 
which will increase his power in making deeper 
studies, and what he reads should tend to correct his 
habits of observation. Step by step he should be 
initiated into the scientific method. Too many ele- 
mentary books fail to teach the scientific method be- 
cause they point out in an unsystematic way only 
those features of the object which the untutored 
senses of the pupil would discover at first glance. It 
is not useful to tell the child to observe a piece of 
chalk and see that it is white, more or less friable, 
and that it makes a mark on a fence or a wall. Sci- 
entific observation goes immediately behind the facts 
which lie obvious to a superficial investigation. 
Above all, it directs attention to such features of the 
object as relate it to its environment. It directs at- 
tention to the features that have a causal influence in 
making the object what it is and in extending its 
effects to other objects. Science discovers the recip- 
rocal action of objects one upon another. 



x iv THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

After the child has learned how to observe what 
is essentia] in one class of objects he is in a measure 
fitted to observe for himself all objects that resemble 
this class. After he has learned how to observe the 
seeds of the milkweed, he is partially prepared to 
observe the seeds of the dandelion, the burdock, and 
the thistle. After he has learned how to study the 
history of his native country, he has acquired some 
ability to study the history of England and Scotland 
or France or Germany. In the same way the daily 
preparation of his reading lesson at school aids him 
to read a story of Dickens or Walter Scott. 

The teacher of a school will know how to obtain 
a small sum to invest in supplementary reading. In 
a graded school of four hundred pupils ten books of 
each number are sufficient, one set of ten books to be 
loaned the first week to the best pupils in one of the 
rooms, the next week to the ten pupils next in ability. 
On Monday afternoon a discussion should be held 
over the topics of interest to the pupils who have 
read the book. The pupils who have not yet read 
the book will become interested, and await anxiously 
their turn for the loan of the desired volume. Another 
set of ten books of a higher grade may be used in the 
same way in a room containing more advanced pupils. 
The older pupils who have left school, and also the 
parents, should avail themselves of the opportunity to 
read the books brought home from school. Thus is 
begun that continuous education by means of the pub- 
lic library which is not limited to the school period, 
but lasts through life. W. T. Harris. 

Washington, D. C, Nov. 16, 1896. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



Books of travel find a place in the series of 
Heme Reading Books, and there is no book of the 
sort that so well deserves it as the Book of Ser 
Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the King- 
doms and the Marvels of the East. He left Venice 
in the year 1271 as a lad of seventeen years, and 
returned to his old home twenty-six years later. 

In the meantime he had traversed the provinces 
of Persia and the nearer East, crossed the high 
steppes of the Pamir region and the whole length of 
China, and resided at the Court of the Grand Khan 
of Tartary for many years as one of his trusted offi- 
cers. For a part of the time he was the governor 
of a great Chinese city, and he was often entrusted 
by the Khan with important missions to distant parts 
of the empire and to foreign countries. 

By a lucky chance, as he himself styles it, he was 
permitted by thfe Khan to return to Venice, where 
he lived the life of a merchant prince, willing to 
converse about his extraordinary adventures, but 
with no thought of writing them out for future gen- 
erations to delight in. 

By a chance still more fortunate for us, what- 
2 xv 



XVI 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



ever he may have thought of it, he was imprisoned 
for about a year at Genoa in the company of a pro- 
fessed man of letters. Here he dictated a long 
account of his travels in the kingdoms of the East, 
and of the marvels that he had seen there. 




Marco Polo dictating an account of his voyages. 

His book is of the first importance to historical 
geographers. It is of the highest interest also as a 
human document. It is, moreover, one of the great 
story-books of the world. It not only throws a flood 
of light upon the state of southern Europe in his 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE xvn 

time, thus supplementing Froissart's account of 
northern Europe a century later,* but it opens the 
East, till then unknown. 

The amazing conquests of the Mongols under 
Jenghiz Khan and his successors brought the East, 
from the steppes of Russia to the Pacific, under a 
single dynasty. Whoever had a tablet of authority 
from the Grand Khan could travel unmolested from 
the Oxus to the Hoang-Ho. Marco Polo lived at 
precisely the right time. Not long after his death 
the further East became closed to Europeans. The 
Moslems succeeded the Mongols as rulers in Central 
Asia, and they stopped the road to China like a 
wall. Xo European could pass. It was not until 
the sixteenth century that China was rediscovered, 
so to say. 

Marco was a merchant — and so he tells us of 
trade; he was a soldier — and he tells us of the wars 
of the Tartars; he was a court-official — and thus 
we have an accurate account of the government; 
he was, for three years, the governor of a great 
city — and w T e have, from him, a picture of the Chi- 
nese people in their homes; he was the trusted am- 
bassador of the Emperor to foreign parts, and he 
has described many provinces of the remote East 
from personal experience; others he describes from 
hearsay. Many names, now familiar — the Pamir, 
Madagascar, and so forth — appear in his book for 
the first time. 



* The Chronicles of Froissart. Home Reading Book Series, 
1900. 



xvill THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

This resolute, intelligent, and sober-minded man 
spent the best years of his life under absolutely 
unique conditions. He returned to Europe, and 
has left an account of his adventures. The present 
volume is designed to open his book to American 
children. The story is generally told in Marco's 
own words (using Colonel Yule's scholarly text and 
notes), though changes in diction have been intro- 
duced whenever it was necessary to make his mean- 
ing clearer. When he has treated the same subject 
in different chapters, his paragraphs have often been 
brought together in this volume. Foot-notes have 
been added when necessary; extended comment is 
made where it may be useful. The modern equiva- 
lents of Marco Polo's proper names are always 
given, as it has seemed unadvisable to burden a 
child's memory with archaic terms. A few of the 
ancient names are given along with the modern in 
cases where they have some modern currency. Mar- 
co's errors as to dates, places, are corrected so. far 
as is possible. The illustrations have been chosen 
from Colonel Yule's book, from Charton's Yoya- 
geurs, from Thompson's In the Track of the Sun, 
and from other sources. Little stress has been laid 
on the merely curious features of his story. It 
is, however, hoped that a long acquaintance with 
the narratives of early voyagers, and a lively sym- 
pathy with the spirit of the great traveler, has 
enabled the writer to present all the essential fea- 
tures of this great book. 

E. A. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGES 

Introductory — Marco Polo's journey to China — Christian mis- 
sionaries in the East — The civilization of the East — The 
civilization of Europe in the fourteenth century — The 
commerce of the Mediterranean Sea — The Arabs and 
Moors in Spain — The civilization of Asia in the four- 
teenth century — The Tartars and Mongols — The con- 
quests of Jenghiz Khan — Europe's dread of the Mongols 
— The price of herrings in England in 1242 — The Mon- 
gol kingdoms — Of Jenghiz Khan and how he became 
the first Khan of all the Tartars — How barbarians be- 
come civilized — How the conquering Arabs and Mongols 
were civilized by their captives 1-29 

CHAPTER II 

How Marco Polo happened to go to Peking (a. d. 1271) — 
How the Great Khan of Tartary received the two brothers 
(Marco's father and uncle) — The two brothers return to 
Venice — How the great king received the travelers on 
their return in a. d. 1275 — How the travelers finally re- 
turned to Venice — The travelers at home in Venice 
(a. d. 1296)— How the book of Ser Marco Polo came to 
be written (a. d. 1299) ' 30-44 

CHAPTER III 

The adventures of Ser Marco Polo — Introduction to his book 
— Description of Armenia — Mount Ararat — Noah's ark 

xix 



XX THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



— Of the great city of Bagdad and how it was taken by 
the Mongols (a. d. 1258) — Of the great country of Persia 
— Concerning the great city of Yezd — Of the city of 
Caniadi and its ruins — Also touching the Caraona rob- 
bers (the Hazaras) — Of the city of Hormuz . . 45-55 

CHAPTER IV 

The Deserts — Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain — 
The Assassins — Concerning the city of Balkh — Of Tali- 
kan and the mountains of salt — Of the province of Ba- 
dakhshan — Of the province of Chitral — Of the province 
of Kashmir — History of Boodha — The Plateau of the 
Pamir — Travelers' tales 56-72 

CHAPTER V 

Marco Polo enters the kingdom of the Grand Khan of Tar- 
tary — Of the desert of Gobi — Concerning the Salamander 
— Concerning the black stones that are dug in Cathay 
and are burned for fuel (coal) — Of the city of Kara- 
koram — Of those that did reign after Jenghiz Khan — 
Concerning the customs of the Tartars — Concerning the 
Tartar customs of war — Concerning the administration 
of justice among the Tartars — The great wall of China 73-86 



CHAPTER VI 

Of the province of Shang-tu, in China, and of the Great 
Khan's palace there — Coleridge's poem — Concerning the 
Great Khan (Kublai Khan) and his great power — Of the 
city of Peking (Cambaluc) — The king's great palace — 
Concerning the twelve barons who are set over all the 
affairs of the Great Khan — How the Khan's posts. and 
runners are sped through many lands and provinces — 
How the Great Khan causes trees to be planted by the 
highways — How the Great Khan causes stores of grain 
to be made to help his people withal in time of scarcity 



CONTENTS xxi 

PAGES 

— Of the charity of the Emperor to the poor — Concern- 
ing the religion of the Chinese — Their views as to the 
soul — Their customs 87-105 



CHAPTER VII 

The Chinese nation — Some account of the civilization of the 
Chinese — Confucius the Sage — Why we do not want the 
Chinese in America 106-115 



CHAPTER VIII 

Great snakes and serpents that Marco Polo saw — Of the bat- 
tle that was fought by the Great Khan's army against 
the King of Burma and Bengal — How the Khan re- 
warded the valor of his captains — Of the great descent 
that leads toward the kingdom of Burma — The unicorn 
— Concerning the province of Kwei-chau — Fierce dogs 
that fight with tigers — Concerning the great river Ho- 
ang-Ho (the Yellow River) — The canals of China — Con- 
cerning the great city of Siang-Yang-fu and how it 
was captured — Concerning the great river Yang-tze- 
Kiang 116-130 



CHAPTER IX 

The island of Japan— How the Great Khan sent an army 
against it— Were any of these Chinese wrecked in Peru ? 
—Concerning the island of Sumatra— The North Star- 
Concerning India— Pearl-fishers— Concerning the king- 
dom of Golconda in India — How diamonds are found 
there (as told in the Arabian Nights)— Concerning the 
province of Guzerat, in India, and the Brahmans — Early 
Chinese trade with India — Concerning the island of Zan- 
zibar — Negroes — Madagascar — The giraffe — The Rukh ? 
— Siberia — The Land of Darkness — Russia — Conclu- 
sion 131-147 



xxii THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

PAGES 

CHAPTER X 

What kind of a man was Marco Polo ? — His character — His 
discoveries — A few words about the progress of geo- 
graphical discovery in Asia, Africa, and America — Ibn 
Batuta — The mariner's compass — Prince Henry the Navi- 
gator — Christopher Columbus — The story of his life — 
The discovery of America — Marco Polo's share in its dis- 
covery ......... 148-160 

Index 161 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Portrait of Marco Polo Frontispiece 

The name of the author in Chinese seal- 
character Vignette of title-page 

Marco Polo in prison dictating an account of his voyages . xvi 

The high peaks of the Himalayas 2 

Outline map of Asia . 5 

The father and uncle of Marco Polo leaving Constantinople 

(from a manuscript of the fourteenth century) . . 7 

An ancient map of the world 9 

An English knight of Marco Polo's time (from an old manu- 
script) 13 

A Tartar house on its wagon 17 

The Alhambra, built by the Moors about a. d. 1253 . . 26 

The Taj-Mahal at Agra, built by the Moguls about 1630 . 28 
The Great Khan gives a tablet of gold (a passport) to the two 

brothers (from a manuscript of the fourteenth century) . 33 

Portrait of Kublai Khan (from a Chinese engraving) . . 34 
The Polo family arrives in Venice after an absence of many 

years (from an ancient manuscript) 39 

Marco Polo's war-ship 43 

War-ships of the Middle Ages 44 

The zebu 52 

A porcupine 61 

A statue of Boodha 68 

Marco Polo's sheep 69 

The great wall of China 84 

A Chinese pavilion 89 

A part of the wall of Peking 92 

A pagoda at Canton 94 

xxiii 



xxiv THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

PAGE 

The flower pagoda at Canton . . . • . . . .97 

An abacus .... 112 

A crocodile 118 

The British coat of arms — the unicorn 123 

Chinese paper money 125 

Fusiyama, the sacred mountain of Japan .... 132 

The Emperor of Japan (from an ancient native drawing) . 133 

An ancient Japanese archer (from a native drawing) . . 134 
Ancient standards and weapons of Japan . . . .135 

The stars of the northern sky ....... 137 

Natives of India 138 

The sacred bull of Shiva — a Hindu idol 141 

A fleet of Chinese war vessels 142 

The rukh, " which feedeth its young upon elephants " . . 144 

Portrait of Christopher Columbus 154 

Behaim's map of the world, 1492 156 

The ships of Columbus ... .... 158 

The standard of Spain, 1492 . 159 

The banner of Columbus, 1492 159 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



CHAPTER I 



Introductory — Marco Polo's journey to China — Christian mis- 
sionaries in the East — The civilization of the East — The civili- 
zation of Europe in the fourteenth century — The commerce of 
the Mediterranean Sea — The Arabs and Moors in Spain — The 
civilization of Asia in the fourteenth century — The Tartars and 
Mongols — The conquests of Jenghiz Khan — Europe's dread of 
the Mongols — The price of herrings in England in 1242 — The 
Mongol kingdoms — Of Jenghiz Khan and how he became the 
first Khan of all the Tartars — How barbarians become civilized 
— How the conquering Arabs and Mongols were civilized by their 
captives. 

Introductory 

More than six hundred years ago a lad of seven- 
teen years old started from Venice, on the Adriatic 
Sea, to make a jonrney across the whole breadth of 
Asia to Peking, the capital of China. Asia was then 
a nearly unknown country, and this journey of Marco 
Polo's is the most famous in history. Years after- 
ward one of his friends wrote down his adventures, 
and the present volume tells them over again — some 
of them — for young people. 

Marco Polo left Venice in the year 1271 with 
his father, Nicolo Polo (nek'6-lo), and his uncle, 
MafTeo Polo (maf-a'-o), bound for Peking, which is 
more than five thousand miles, in a straight line, 

1 



2 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 




The high peaks of the Himalayas. 



from Venice. By the roads they traveled it was at 
least three times as far. They were more than three 
years on their journey. 



INTRODUCTORY 3 

Nearly every step of their way was full of dan- 
ger. On the sea they traveled in frail sailing ves- 
sels, with no compass to guide them — for the com- 
pass Avas then unknown in Europe. By day they 
coasted along from headland to headland, keeping as 
close to the land as they dared. At night they 
anchored near the shore when they could find a shel- 
tered bay, or else steered timidly by the stars. Con- 
trary winds delayed them or drove them out of their 
course. Their vessels were small affairs, not able to 
buffet storms. The seas they traversed swarmed 
with pirates and enemies. 

On land they made their journeys on foot, on 
horseback, on camels, always traveling with caravans 
for fear of robbers. When they came to a river they 
crossed it as best they could. Sometimes there were 
boats at the ferry. Sometimes they had to make 
rafts for themselves. There were few good roads in 
those days. The mountain passes were very difficult, 
and often buried in snow. They crossed vast deserts, 
where there was little water and no food for man 
or beast. Very often the people in the villages were 
hostile, and always there was danger from wandering 
bands of robbers or of soldiers. 

After three years and a half of journeying they 
at last reached Peking. They had traversed Ar- 
menia, visited Bagdad on the Tigris, Horrauz (at the 
mouth of the Persian Gulf), crossed Persia and 
Turkestan, climbed the high passes of the Hima- 
laya * mountains to the elevated plains of the 

* Him a'la-ya ; the name means the abode of snow. 



4 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Pamir * region, plodded across the vast desert of 
Gobi,f and so through all China to Peking. Their 
home-coming, years afterward, was by a still longer 
route, as yon shall hear. 

The adventures of an American boy who should 
make such a journey in 1902 would be well worth 
telling. Think what strange people and strange 
countries he would see! But on every ocean he 
would find stout steamships to take him safely from 
harbor to harbor. At every seaport he would find 
an American consul ready to give him any advice 
and assistance he needed. There would be plenty 
of provisions in every city put up in a handy way 
for transportation and use. 

For a great part of his land journey he would 
find good roads leading to large cities where there 
were hotels and shops, and maybe a telegraph line, 
possibly a railway. He would have little trouble 
in hiring horses and servants. Most of the rivers 
would have bridges, or, at least, good ferry-boats. 
When he had to cross mountains or deserts, which 
are nearly as difficult to-day as long ago, he would 
at least know beforehand just what difficulties he 
was going to meet, because other men, who had 
been there before him, had written down their expe- 
riences in books for him to read, if he chose. In very 
many places he would find some one, usually a mer- 
chant, who could speak some words of English. Half 

* Pa-mer' ; this plain is thirteen thousand feet above the sea, 
higher than most of the Rocky Mountains, 
f Go'be. 



6 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

the danger, and nearly all the anxiety, of such a 
journey, has vanished. Even so, the experiences of 
an American boy would be interesting to read. 

Marco Polo's Journey to China 

But in Marco Polo's day all was different. Very 
few Europeans had penetrated these wild and almost 
unknown regions. The dangers and difficulties were 
very real. Often and often his party traveled at 
the risk of their lives. None of the natives could 
speak Italian, the language of the Polos, and so 
young Marco set about learning the languages of 
the foreigners. In time he learned to speak several 
languages, and he could write, he tells us, no less 
than four. 

On page 5 is a map that shows the part of the 
world in which Marco Polo's journeys were made. 
You should trace out on this map his track, as you 
read about it, both now and all through the book. 
We do not know his exact route, and for that reason 
it is not marked on the map. But he tells us what 
cities he visited and what he saw there. 

Trade between the East and the West 

In those days, six hundred years ago, nearly all 
of Asia was unknown to most Europeans. But there 
were certain routes along which traders traveled, 
bringing the goods of the East to people who lived 
on the Mediterranean Sea, and exchanging them for 
western manufactures. The silks and carpets of Per- 
sia, for example, had been known in Europe for more 



TRADE BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST 7 




The father and uncle of Marco Polo leaving Constantinople 
on their travels. From a manuscript of the fourteenth 
century. 

than a thousand years. For very many years the 

beautiful glass and gold-work of Venice had been 

sent to the East. 
3 



8 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

A few European merchants had trading houses 
in Constantinople, in Bagdad, in Bassorah, and there 
they sent their wares. Their agents at these places 
exchanged them with the masters of the caravans 
who arrived from India, from Persia, even from dis- 
tant China. Silks came from China, you know ; mus- 
lin (Mosul-ine) from Mosul; calico from Calicut in 
India. Our ancestors, before the Crusaders had 
brought back the spices of the East, used no season- 
ing for their food except salt. Pepper, cloves, nut- 
megs, cinnamon, etc., were unknown. Common 
drugs like camphor and laudanum had to be brought 
from the Orient. Most jewels came from India, too 
— diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls. The Crusades 
(1095-1270) opened the trade between the East and 
the West, and made the daily life of Europe a new 
thing. 

Christian Missionaries in the East 

Then, again, Christian missionaries had spread 
over a large part of the nearer East. There were 
bishops and churches in Turkestan as early as the 
fourth century (a. d. 334). One of the tribes of 
Turkomans became Christians about a. d. 1000. 
There were Christians in India, too, from the very 
earliest times. It is very probable that one of 
Christ's apostles — Saint Thomas — preached in India. 

In one of the great cities of Tartary, in the year 
1253, a European monk * found .Russians, Greeks, 
Hungarians, and even a Frenchman from Paris and 

* De Rubriquis was his name. 



10 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

his wife. These were sometimes fugitives from jus- 
tice, and more often prisoners taken by the Tartars 
and sent to their cities to teach the arts of jewelry, 
weaving, house-building, and so forth. The Tartars 
usually killed all their prisoners who had no trades; 
but they spared the artisans and the learned men, 
and sent them to Samarkand (find it on the map) or 
to Bokhara to help to make the city beautiful, or 
else to teach in its schools. 

You must not, therefore, think of the western 
part of Asia as entirely untraveled by Europeans in 
those days. A few, very few, Europeans had wan- 
dered into Persia, Tartary, and India. No one that 
we know of had seen China or Japan. The nearer 
East had been more or less in touch with Europe 
for centuries through wars or through commerce. 
The further East (China, Tibet, Siam, Japan) was 
unknown. Until just before Marco Polo's time, it 
was impenetrable, because it had been cut up into 
many small kingdoms that were usually at war with 
each other. But Jenghiz Khan, the great conqueror, 
had overrun all of Asia before his death; and during 
his lifetime and that of his sons it was a Tartar 
kingdom. Whoever had a passport from the Tartar 
emperor could travel anywhere. 

The Civilization of the East 

The people who lived in the countries of the 
East were, most of them, civilized in their fashion. 
The Persians, for instance, were learned, polite, in- 
dustrious, and in past centuries they had built great 
and splendid cities. 



CIVILIZATION IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 11 

The people of Hindustan had great buildings, 
too; poems as fine as Homer's, and plays only sec- 
ond to Shakespeare's. The Chinese were wise, 
learned, very intelligent, and industrious. They also 
had great books. They knew how to make gun- 
powder, to use the mariner's compass, they invented 
the art of printing books from types, and they could 
make paper. 

When we say that the Persians, the Hindus, the 
Chinese, knew such and such things, we mean that 
these things were known in Persia, in Hindustan, in 
China, by the wisest men and the upper classes; the 
mass of the people were poor, ignorant, and op- 
pressed. All the wealth and most of the knowledge 
were confined to the rich and powerful. It is not 
easy for an American boy to understand at once; 
you will have to read to the end of this book to 
really comprehend it all. Marco Polo himself will 
tell you. But you have to know something of the 
circumstances of those times beforehand, in order 
to read his book with pleasure. 

The Civilization of Europe in the Fourteenth 
Century 

Let us begin with European countries and see 
what they were like ; and, first of all, let us take 
England, about 1354, a hundred years after Marco 
Polo was born. King Edward III was on the 
throne, and he and his son Edward, the Black Prince, 
were fighting Erance and winning great victories.* 

* See the Home Reading book that gives the chronicles of 
Froissart. 



12 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

England was prosperous, rich, a nation of farmers. 
The wool that they raised they sent to Flanders (Bel- 
gium) to be made into cloth. There was a great 
difference between a nobleman and a yeoman, but of 
late years the people and the nobility had been get- 
ting closer and closer together. Many of the London 
merchants were very rich, and they sometimes mar- 
ried their daughters to noblemen. 

England had a Parliament (our Congress is some- 
thing of the same sort) of King, Lords, and Com- 
mons (that is, common people), and the wealth of the 
kingdom was controlled by Parliament. The King 
could not spend money unless the Parliament first 
voted to give it to him. Best of all, the English 
knight and the English archer had fought together 
in so many battles in France that they had grown 
to respect and to like each other, as they never 
would have done if they had stayed peaceably at 
home. 

England was not a learned country then. Few 
people could read and write. They had only a few 
books. The first translation of the Bible into Eng- 
lish was made in 1382 by Wyclif. The French, and 
not the English, language was used in courts of law 
until 1362. The English language, as we know it, 
was not born until the time of Chaucer, who fought 
in these very wars with France and who died in 1400. 
Some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge were 
founded, but they were really monasteries quite as 
much as universities. 

France was far less prosperous and happy than 
England. She suffered so many defeats in her wars 



14 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

(Cressy, 1346; Poitiers,* 1356) and lost so many 
provinces that the whole kingdom was poor and the 
common people starving. It was dangerous to go 
about in the streets of Paris at night for fear of 
wolves and robbers. France was no more learned 
than England, though there had been a university in 
Paris since the year 1200. The books that were 
studied there were not written by Frenchmen, but by 
Greeks (Aristotle), Romans (Seneca), or even by Per- 
sians (Avicenna). 

The Commerce of the Mediterranean Sea 

The cities of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, in Italy, 
were all powerful and all busily engaged in trading 
in the Mediterranean Sea, and even in the Black Sea, 
at this time. They were rivals, and frequently at 
war with each other. The Popes of Rome were also 
striving with enemies. In the year 1309 the Pope 
left Rome, which had been the capital city of Christ- 
endom for thirteen centuries and of heathendom for 
many centuries before that time, and went to reside 
at Avignon (a-ven-yon') in France. The Papal Court 
did not return to Italy till 1377. 

The Arabs and Moors in Spain 

Spain was a Christian country up to the year 709 
a. d., when an army of Saracens (Arabs) landed at 
Gibraltar with their general, Tarik. The name Gib- 
raltar is a lasting memento of this invasion, for it 

* PwS-tya' 



CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA, FOURTEENTH CENTURY 15 

comes from the Arabic words gebel-al-tar-ik, which 
means the hill of Tank, Tarik's hill. The Saracens 
gradually conquered a great part of Spain, and by 
and by (a. d. 1091) they invited the Moors from 
north Africa to come over and help them. They 
were not finally expelled until 1492, the year when 
America was discovered by Columbus. Of course 
all the Saracens and Moors were Mohammedans — 
believers in the religion taught by Mohammed. 

The Civilizations of Asia in the Fourteenth 
Century 

So much, at least, you must know about Europe; 
and there is still something to be said about Asia be- 
fore we can let Marco Polo tell his own story in his 
own words. The prophet Mohammed died in the 
year 632 a. d., after converting all Arabia to his 
religion. Under his successors, the Caliphs of 
Damascus and Bagdad (Caliph means " successor "), 
the Arabs set out on a wonderful career of conquest, 
carrying their religion with them and making all 
their subject-nations conform to it. They con- 
quered Damascus in a. r>. 634, Syria and Palestine in 
637, Egypt and the south shores of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea about 640, Persia in 641, Spain in 711. 
They ruled in Turkestan, with capitals at Samarkand 
and Bokhara, and Mohammedan kings governed most 
of northern India about a. d. 1200 (see page 5). 

The Mohammedan Arabs were rude and ignorant 
when they first invaded these distant Eastern coun- 
tries; but it was not long before they learned all that 



16 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

their captives had to teach them and became learned, 
civilized, and luxurious. 

Their capital of Bagdad on the Euphrates was 
one of the most splendid cities of the world. It was 
full of palaces, fine buildings, mosques (churches), 
and colleges. Hundreds of learned men frequented 
the courts of the Caliphs. They wrote books of their 
own, and they translated all the great books of the 
Greeks into Arabic. They were astronomers, mathe- 
maticians, physicians, geographers, and so forth. 
You must imagine Arabia and the adjacent countries 
to be prosperous, rich, peaceful, and to be governed 
by the Arabian Caliphs and their officers, who were 
brave, intelligent, religious (in their way), courteous, 
and refined. This condition of affairs endured up to 
the beginning of the thirteenth century, and then 
came a mighty change. These powerful and rich 
kingdoms were swept away by the hordes of Mongol 
warriors from the north of Asia. 

The Tartars and Mongols 
The northern parts of Asia — Turkestan, Mon- 
golia, and Siberia — and large parts of Eussia were 
inhabited by Tartars and Mongols.* They were 
very like our own red Indians. A French monk who 
visited them about a. d. 1253 describes them to the 
life. "They have no settled habitations; neither 
know they to-day where they shall lodge to-morrow. 
They have all Scythia to themselves, which stretches 
from the river Danube to the utmost extent of the 

* In this book the terms are used as if they were exactly the 
same. Marco Polo calls them all Tartars. 



k 




\S THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

East. Each of their captains, according to the num- 
ber of his people, knows the bounds of his pastures 
and where he ought to feed his cattle, winter and 
summer, spring and autumn. Their houses were 
moved from place to place on immense wagons twenty 
feet wide, drawn by two-and-twenty oxen in two 
ranks, eleven in each rank. The axle-trees of the 
carts are of a huge bigness, like the mast of a ship," 
says the monk. 

Another traveler says : " They are a people of 
great valor, excellent horsemen, expert with the bow, 
and used to hardship. If they have food, they eat; 
and if not, they endure cold and heat, hunger and 
thirst, better than any people in the world." One 
of their own kings said of them that they only un- 
derstood two things — how to eat and how to die. 
They were horsemen and herdsmen. They despised 
the life of towns, and thought a farmer was only fit 
to be a slave. They fed on meat, and jeered at 
people who eat bread im.de from wheat — " the top 
of a weed," they called it. 

They were divided into tribes under petty chief- 
tains, and these tribes were perpetually at war with 
each other, or with the more civilized people near 
them — Eussians, Persians, Chinese, and so forth. 
They were robbers, and robbers who sometimes came 
in huge bands ; but they were not a nation. 

The Conquests of Jenghiz Khan 

In the year 1206 one of their petty chiefs — Jen- 
ghiz Kahn (Jen'-gis Khan) — proclaimed himself to be 
the chieftain of all the Mongols, and he was accepted 



EUROPE'S DREAD OF THE MONGOLS 19 

as their king. Then commenced the most astonishing 
series of wars and conquests. He attacked the more 
civilized people about him with huge armies, and 
conquered them one by one. The whole of northern 
China was overrun by his hordes, and Peking was 
captured in a. d. 1215. All of Central Asia was sub- 
dued in the next few years. He died in 1227, but 
his sons and grandsons carried on his wars. It is 
scarcely an exaggeration to say that " without their 
leave no dog dared bark from the borders of Poland 
to the Yellow Sea of China. " 

Europe's Dread or the Mongols 

All Europe was in deadly terror of the Mongols 
led by Jenghiz, " the Scourge of God." In 1223 he 
invaded and overran a great part of Russia. In 1241 
his sons carried their conquests into Poland and cap- 
tured Buda-Pesth in Hungary. Here is a curious 
proof of the universal fear. In the year. 1242 the 
people of England could scarcely sell the herrings 
they had fished from the sea. And what do you 
suppose was the reason? The Dutch sailors were 
kept at home so as to be ready to defend Holland 
against the Mongols if they should come, and would 
not come over to England to buy the fish they 
needed! And so the English sailor could not sell 
his herrings ! Take a map of the world and see how 
far it is from China to England. The terror of 
these Mongols spread over the whole earth. 

An Arabic verse says of Jenghiz: 

In every direction that he urged h is steed 
He raised dust commingled with Mood. 



20 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

" The Mongols came, destroyed, burnt, slaugh- 
tered, plundered, and departed," one of the Arab 
historians said; and the whole history of the con- 
quests of Jenghiz Khan is given in that one sen- 
tence. In the year 1219 his armies slew 160,000 
men. In 1220 200,000 perished at the siege of the 
city of Otrar. They completely sacked and burned 
Bokhara, Samarkand, Balkh, and Khorassan in 1221. 
In the same year, at Mshapur, all but 400 of its 
1,700,000 inhabitants were put to death. At Nessa 
70,000 were slain; at Urgeng, 70,000; at Merv, 
700,000; at Herat, 1,600,000. These are the fig- 
ures given by Arab historians. The sum is four mil- 
lions and a half! It is certain that millions were 
slain; how many millions we can not be sure. 

The Mongol Kingdoms 

Jenghiz had sons and grandsons, who divided up 
his conquests between them. One of them (Hulaku) 
ruled in Persia and Armenia, another (Barka) ruled 
in Russia, another (Chagatai) in Turkestan, another, 
of whom Marco Polo will have much to say (Kublai), 
ruled in China. 

Northern China had been captured from the 
Chinese by the Golden Horde of Tartars a century 
before the time of Jenghiz. He conquered it from 
them. Southern China was still Chinese. It was the 
great work of Kublai Khan to subdue southern China 
and to make it part of his empire. India was ruled 
by a Mohammedan sultan at Delhi and by very many 
less powerful chieftains, both native and foreign. 



HOW JENGHIZ BECAME THE FIRST KHAN 21 

This is what Marco says about the great con- 
queror: 

Of Jenghiz, and how he became the First Khan 
of the Tartars 

Now it came to pass in the year 1206 that the Tartars 
made them a King whose name was Jenghiz Khan — that 
is to say, the Very Mighty Ruler. He was a man of 
great worth, and of great ability, eloquence, and valor. 
And as soon as the news that he had been chosen King 
was spread abroad through those countries, all the Tartars 
in the world came to him and owned him for their Lord. 
And right well did he maintain the sovereignty they had 
given him. 

What shall I say? The Tartars gathered to him in 
astonishing multitude, and when he saw such numbers he 
collected a great supply of spears and arrows and such 
other arms as they used, and set about the conquest of all 
those regions till he had conquered eight provinces. 

When he conquered a province he did no harm to the 
people or their property, but merely established some of 
his own men in the country along with a proportion of 
theirs, while he led the remainder to the conquest of other 
provinces. 

And when those whom he had conquered became aware 
how well and safely he protected them against all others, 
and how they suffered no ill at his hands, and saw what 
a noble prince he was, then they joined him heart and 
soul and became his devoted followers. And when he had 
thus gathered such a multitude that they seemed to cover 
the earth, he began to think of conquering a great part 
of the world. 

The first part of Marco's account is entirely true. 
Jenghiz Khan was indeed a ruler of great ability, 



22 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

eloquence, and valor. He was the first general who 
knew how to make the scattered tribes of Tartars 
and Mongols work together instead of fighting among 
themselves. But the last two paragraphs are very 
far from true as they stand. They need explanation. 
Marco Polo means that when Jenghiz had conquered 
a province inhabited by Tartar people he did no great 
harm to them, but enlisted them in his army and 
led them forth to plunder the' more civilized king- 
doms round about. This was exactly what the savage 
Tartars liked. Jenghiz was a leader that they loved 
to follow, for he was always successful, and gave 
them endless chances for plunder and spoil. It was 
after " he began to think of conquering a great part 
of the world " that he showed what manner of man 
he was, and you must hear a little of his horrible 
cruelty. 

He treated the Tartars whom he conquered with 
some kind of justice, but his Christian or Saracen 
captives he killed outright, by thousands and by tens 
of thousands — men, women, and children alike. 
Often he tortured them with cruel tortures — boiling 
them in huge caldrons, burying them alive, and doing 
worse things to many. 

The artisans (workmen who had trades) and the 
educated men he spared, and sent them to some of 
his cities. All the rest he butchered or sold into 
slavery — ten thousand from one city, a hundred thou- 
sand from another, five hundred thousand from an- 
other. The cities were plundered, the inhabitants 
were killed, and then the buildings were set on fire. 
Jenghiz invaded China in 1213 with four armies, and 



HOW JENGHIZ BECAME THE FIRST KHAN 23 

utterly destroyed more than ninety large cities. It 
was his boast that a horse could gallop over the 
places where these cities had been and never stum- 
ble. The Mongol armies were immense. A son of 
Jenghiz had one army of three hundred thousand 
men on the Caspian Sea, while another of six hundred 
thousand was harrying China. 

This is what happened to the city of Herat. In 
the time of Jenghiz Khan it was a crowded city, with 
extensive suburbs and a very large population — sev- 
eral hundreds of thousands of people — some writers 
say more than a million. It was taken by siege 
in 1222— '2 3, and the lives of its inhabitants were 
spared, though the Tartars plundered their property. 
The people rose against the garrison that was left 
there and drove them out, and the Tartars besieged 
the city once more, and after seven months cap- 
tured it. 

Then the conquerors deliberately proceeded to 
slay every man, woman, and child in the city. For 
seven days and nights the massacre went on, and the 
Arab historians declare that more than a million peo- 
ple were killed in that one horrible week. The Tar- 
tars did not leave the place till they were satisfied 
that no single inhabitant remained alive. 

After their departure some three thousand 
wretched citizens who had escaped assembled amid 
the smoking ruins of their city. In a few hours a 
band of Tartars returned and completed the slaugh- 
ter, so that all perished save sixteen miserable crea- 
tures, who hid themselves in sewers or in the dome 
of the mosque. Finally, these sixteen were joined 
4 



24 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

by twenty-four others from the villages round about, 
and for fifteen years these forty persons were the 
sole survivors of the proudest city of the East, which 
had counted its children by hundreds of thousands. 

It is almost impossible to conceive such terrible 
calamities. You have to imagine great cities like 
Boston or Baltimore or St. Louis burnt, plundered, 
destroyed, and every man, woman, and child within 
them butchered like beasts. Hide where they might, 
there would be no escape, no pity, no hope. Jenghiz 
and his armies were everywhere considered to be a 
punishment sent by God. Europe and Asia alike 
trembled before them. 

Such awful calamities can never happen again. 
Modern wars are dreadful and cruel, but they can 
never be overwhelming disasters like the Tartar in- 
vasions. No civilized army would consent to do 
deeds of horrid cruelty, and the telegraph and steam 
and a thousand modern inventions suffice to protect 
the world against any number of barbarians. 

How Barbarians become Civilized 

Marco Polo's travels began in 1271, forty-four 
years after the death of Jenghiz Khan. In these 
forty-four years the Mongols had become somewhat 
civilized by contact with their subject nations, just 
as the Arabs became civilized after they had ruled 
Persia for a century. 

Imagine, if you can, that our red Indians, instead 
of being conquered by the white people, had become 
stronger and stronger. Suppose that all their sepa- 
rate tribes had banded together under a single very 



HOW BARBARIANS BECOME CIVILIZED 25 

able chief — a second Napoleon. Suppose that hun- 
dreds and hundreds of thousands of these Indians had 
slowly worked their way eastward, conquering and 
killing as they went until finally they had overrun 
the whole country and made their capital in New 
York. 

At first they would plunder and burn and slay; 
but by and by they would think it pleasant to stay 
where they were rather than to return to the great 
plains of Kansas and Colorado from which they came. 
As soon as they made up their minds to this, one 
chief would take charge of New York, another of 
Albany, another of Boston, and so forth, and each 
chief would set up some kind of a government. His 
soldiers would be always on hand to carry out his 
orders. You and I would be his slaves. If we could 
build houses, or make jewelry, or weave cloth, or 
manufacture swords, we should be put to do these 
things. If we could not we might be killed, or we 
might be chained and set to do any kind of work. 

At first our masters would be cruel, ignorant, un- 
just. They would be just as likely to burn down a 
house as to live in it. By and by they would learn 
from us, their slaves, how to use the houses and the 
machinery and all the appliances of a vast city so as 
to be more comfortable, more splendid. They would 
find out that to get the most out of us they must 
be just, not to say kind and generous. Some of them 
would know that we had books about justice, books 
about law, medicine, machinery, and so forth; and 
some of us would be set to translating these books 
into their language for their use. In time they would 



HOW ARABS AND MONGOLS WERE CIVILIZED 27 

learn from us all that they wanted to know. They 
would become civilized in their way. It would not 
be exactly in our way, but it would be like our way. 

How the Conquering Arabs and Mongols were 
Civilized 

Now this is exactly what happened to the Mon- 
gols when they settled in Persia, in India, in China. 
They learned from the Persians, the Hindus, the 
Chinese exactly what they wanted to know, and they 
became like them in many ways. Precisely the same 
thing happened when the rude and warlike Arabs con- 
quered Persia, Damascus, Egypt, and Spain. They 
learned all that they wanted to learn, and they 
wanted to learn anything that would make them 
happier, more intelligent, more magnificent, more 
powerful. 

When the Arabs took Alexandria in Egypt (a. d, 
641), they burned all its precious books and manu- 
scripts in the furnaces under their hot-water baths. 
What did these rude warriors want of books? Yet 
it was not long before one of the Mohammedan kings 
of Spain had a library of six hundred thousand manu- 
scripts. The Arabs of Mohammed's time (a. d. 630) 
lived in rude, one-storied mud huts or else in tents. 
In 1253 their descendants built the Alhambra at 
Granada, one of the finest buildings of the whole 
world. 

Jenghiz Khan lived in a wicker-work house (see 
page 17). One of the Mogul emperors of Hindustan 
built the tomb for his wife that is shown on page 28. 

One thing more it is necessary to remember. 




The Taj -Mahal (tazh-me-haT) at Agra, built about 1630. 



HOW ARABS AND MONGOLS WERE CIVILIZED 29 

The Arabs started on their wonderful career of con- 
quest to carry the religion of Mohammed throughout 
the world. The Tartars and Mongols under Jenghiz 
Khan, and for generations afterward, were pure 
heathens. They worshiped idols when they wor- 
shiped anything. They hated the Mohammedans 
more than Christians even. Indeed, it is likely that 
at one time they would gladly have joined with the 
Christian crusaders in an attempt to drive the Sara- 
cens out of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. 



CHAPTER II 

How Marco Polo happened to go to Peking (a. d. 1271) — How 
the- Great Khan of Tartary received the two brothers (Marco's 
father and uncle) — The two brothers return to Venice — How the 
great king received the travelers on their return in a. d. 1275 — 
How the travelers finally returned to Venice — The travelers at 
home in Venice (a. d. 1296) — How the book of Ser Marco Polo 
came to be written (a. d. 1299). 

How Marco Polo happened to go to Peking: 
(a. d. 1271) 

It is time to tell how this Venetian lad happened 
to make his famous journey. His father ISTicolo and 
his uncle Maffeo were merchants of Venice, trading 
with the extreme East. In the year 1260 they started 
on a voyage to Constantinople and the Crimea ■ of 
Russia (see page 5). From Russia they went to 
Bokhara, and thence to the court of the Great Khan 
Kublai, somewhere in China, or, as it was then called, 
Cathay.* 

The Khan was delighted with his visitors, and 
showed them many favors. He had never seen a 
European before, and the two brothers were very in- 
telligent and had much to tell him. Among other 
things they told him about the- Christian religion, 

* Cathay was the Russian name for China. 
30 



HOW THE KHAN RECEIVED THE BROTHERS 31 

and the Khan made up his mind to send letters to the 
Pope of Rome, asking him to send missionaries to 
China to preach to his people and to civilize them. 
What better messengers to the Pope could he choose 
than these brothers? So the Great Khan wrote his 
letters and sent them by the Polos to be delivered 
to the Pope, making them promise to return. Here 
is Marco's account of their visit to the Khan.* 

How the Great Khan of Tartary received 
the Two Brothers 

•JVhen the Two Brothers got to the Grand Khan, he 
received them with great honor, and showed much pleas- 
ure at their visit, asking them a great number of ques- 
tions. First, he asked about the emperors, how they ad- 
ministered justice in their dominions, and how they went 
forth to battle, and so forth. And then he asked the like 
questions about the kings and princes. 

And then he inquired about the Pope and the Church, 
and about all that is done at Rome, and all the customs 
of the Latins (Romans). And the Two Brothers told him 
the truth in all its particulars, like sensible men as they 
were; and this they were able to do, as they knew the 
Tartar language well. 

When that Prince, whose name was Kublai Khan, 
Lord of the Tartars all over the earth, and of all the 
kingdoms and provinces and territories of that vast quar- 
ter of the world, had heard all that the Brothers had 

* Here and elsewhere throughout this book Marco Polo's own 
words are given as they are printed in Colonel Yule's " The Book 
of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian," with a very few changes to 
make them clearer to American children. Of course this little 
book can give only a small part of Marco Polo's adventures ; 
but the most important and interesting parts have been chosen. 



32 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

to tell him about the ways of the Latins, he was greatly 
pleased, and he took it into his head that he would send 
them on an Embassy to the Pope. So he urgently desired 
them to undertake this mission; and they replied that 
they would gladly execute all his commands. 

After this the Prince caused letters to the Pope to 
be written in the Tartar tongue, and gave them to the 
Two Brothers. Now the contents of the letter were as 
follows : He begged that the Pope would send as many 
as an hundred persons of our Christian faith; intelligent 
men, acquainted with the Seven Arts, well qualified to 
prove by force of argument to idolaters and other kinds 
of folk, that the Law of Christ was best, and that all 
other religions were false and naught; and if they would 
prove this, he and all under him would become Christians. 
Finally he charged his Envoys to bring back to him some 
Oil of the Lamp which burns on the Sepulchre of our 
Lord at Jerusalem. 

When the Prince had charged them with all his com- 
mission, he caused to be given them a Tablet of Gold, 
on which was inscribed that the Ambassadors should be 
supplied with everything needful in all countries through 
which they should pass — with horses, with escorts, and, in 
short, with whatever they should require. And when they 
had made all needful preparations, they took their leave 
of the Emperor and set out. 

The " Seven Arts " were those taught in the uni- 
versities of Europe at that time: the three liberal 
arts— grammar, rhetoric, and logic, how to speak cor- 
rectly, how to speak with elegance, how to argue and 
reason; and the four sciences — arithmetic, music 
(the science of sounds), geometry, and astronomy. 
The tablet of gold was a kind of a passport. The 



HOW THE KHAN RECEIVED THE BROTHERS 33 



Khan gave tablets to all his chief officers; and who- 
ever had such a tablet could obtain food, servants, 




lodgings, horses, and in fact any needed assistance, 
from every subject of the Khan anywhere in his vast 
dominions. 



34 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



The Two Brothers return to Venice 

The Two Brothers set out on their journey and 
reached Venice in the year 1269 and found that there 
was no Pope of Borne. The old Pope was dead, and 
no successor had yet been elected. These were very 
troublous times in the Church, and no Pope was 

chosen for two years. 
So the Two Brothers 
decided that their re- 
turn to the Great 
Khan must be put off 
no longer, and they 
determined to set out 
from Venice and to 
take Marco, then a 
lad seventeen years 
old, with them. Just 
at this time one of 
their friends was 
elected Pope of Borne 
(he was called Pope 
Gregory X), and he gave them letters to the Khan 
and ordered two priests — he could spare no more — 
to go with them. 

The priests went a short way, but soon turned 
back, afraid of the perils of the journey; and so it 
happened that no missionaries reached China at that 
time. The Great Khan was determined to have some 
religion taught to his people, and so he sent to Tibet 
for Boodhist priests. It was in this way and at this 
time that Boodhism was introduced into northern 




Portrait of Kublai Khan. 
From a Chinese engraving. 



HOW THE KHAN RECEIVED THE TRAVELERS 35 

China. If the Great Khan had received the hundred 
Christian missionaries that he asked for, it is likely 
that China would be to-day a Christian co untry ! 

So the Two Brothers and young Marco started 
on their long journey in the year 1271, as has been 
said. After three years and a half they reached the 
court of the Great Khan near Peking. Marco was 
a boy of seventeen when he set out. He did not 
return till he was a man of forty-one. The best part 
of his life was spent in Tartary. 

How the Great Khan received the Travelers 

(a. d. 1275) 

When the Two Brothers and Mark had arrived at that 
great city, they went to the Imperial Palace, and there 
they found the sovereign attended by a great company of 
Barons. So they bent the knee before him, and paid their 
respects to him, prostrating themselves on the ground. 

Then the Lord bade them stand up, and treated them 
with great honor, showing great pleasure at their coming, 
and asked many questions as to their welfare and how 
they had sped. They replied that they had in verity sped 
well, seeing they had found the Khan well and safe. Then 
they presented the letters which they had received from 
the Pope, which pleased him right well; and after that 
they produced the Oil from the Sepulchre, and at that 
also he was very glad. 

And next, spying Mark, who was then a young gal- 
lant, he asked who was that in their company ? " Sire," 
said his father, ]\Iesser ISTicolo, " 'tis my son." " Welcome 
is he too," quoth the Emperor. There was great rejoicing 
at the Court because of their arrival; and they met with 
attention and honor from everybody. So they abode at 
the Court with the other Barons. 



36 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Now it came to pass that Marco, the son of Messer 
Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the 
Tartars as well as their language, their manner of writing, 
and their practice of war; in fact, he came in brief space 
to know several languages. And he was discreet and pru- 
dent in every way, so that the Emperor held him in great 
esteem. And so when he discerned Mark to have so much 
sense, and to conduct himself so well and beseemingly, 
he sent him on an embassy to a country which was a good 
six months' journey distant. 

The young gallant executed his commission well and 
with discretion. Now he had taken note on several occa- 
sions that when the Prince's ambassadors returned from 
different parts of the world they were able to tell him about 
nothing except the business on which they had gone, and 
that the Prince in consequence held them for no better 
than fools, and would say: " I had far rather hear about 
the strange things, and the manners of the different coun- 
tries you have seen, than merely be told of the business 
you went upon " ; for he took great delight in hearing of 
the affairs of strange countries. Mark, therefore, as he 
went and returned, took great pains to learn about all 
kinds of different matters in the countries which he vis- 
ited, in order to be able to tell about them to the Great 
Khan. 

When Mark returned from his embassy, he presented 
himself before the Emperor; and after making his report 
of the business with which he was charged, and its suc- 
cessful accomplishment, he went on to give an account, 
in a pleasant and intelligent manner, of all the novelties 
and strange things that he had seen and heard ; insomuch 
that the Emperor and all such as heard his story were 
surprised, and said: "If this young man live, he will 
assuredly come to be a person of great worth and ability." 
And so from that time forward he was always entitled 



HOW THE KHAN RECEIVED THE TRAVELERS 37 

Messer Marco Polo, and thus we shall style him hence- 
forth in this Book of ours, as is but right. 

Thereafter Messer Marco abode in the Khan's employ- 
ment some seventeen years, continually going and coming, 
hither and thither, on the missions that were entrusted 
to him by the Khan, and sometimes, with the permission 
and authority of the Great Khan, on his own private 
affairs. 

And as he knew all the Sovereign's ways, like a sensi- 
ble man he took much pains to gather knowledge of any- 
thing that would be likely to interest him, and then on 
his return to Court he would relate everything in regular 
order, and thus the Emperor came to hold him in great 
love and favor. And for this reason also he would employ 
him the oftener on the most weighty and most distant of 
his missions. These Messer Marco ever carried out with 
discretion and success, God be thanked. So the Emperor 
became ever more partial to him, and treated him with 
the greater distinction, and kept him so close to his person 
that some of the Barons waxed very envious thereat. 

And thus it came about that Messer Marco Polo had 
knowledge of, or had actually visited, a greater number of 
the different countries of the World than any other man; 
the more that he was always giving his mind to get knowl- 
edge, and to spy out and inquire into everything, in order 
to have matter to relate to the Khan. 

It will be convenient to set down in this place 
that Marco arrived at the court of the Khan in the 
year 1275; that he was an official of the court at 
least as early as 1277, when he was sent on an em- 
bassy to Tibet, Yunnan, and northern Burma; that 
he was for three years governor of the great Chinese 
city of Yang-chow; and that we know of three em- 



38 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

bassies of his — to Karakorum in north Mongolia, to 
southern Cochin-China, and to southern India. 

How the Travelers finally returned Home 
(a. d. 1295 or 1296) 

When the Two Brothers and Marco had spent 
years in foreign parts they began to think about re- 
turning home. Marco was a man of over forty by 
this time. Then, again, their fortunes depended on 
the favor of the Great Khan, who was growing to 
be an old man. If he should die they might fare 
badly at the hands of his successor. But the Khan 
did not wish to part with such useful persons, and 
refused to let them go. 

By and by it happened that a messenger came 
to the Grand Khan from his great nephew, the Khan 
of Persia. The Persian ruler had (in 1286) lost his 
wife, and wished to marry a lady of Kublai's court. 
It was necessary to send this lady — a girl of seven- 
teen — from Peking to Tabriz, the capital of Persia. 
The overland roads were not safe to travel on account 
of wars, and at any rate such a journey would be 
most difficult for the princess and her company of 
ladies. It was suggested that the voyage might be 
made by sea, and finally it was so decided. 

The party was fitted out nobly, and left China 
in the year 1292, six years after the Persian queen 
had died. They went by sea to Sumatra and India 
(as the book relates), and, after many escapes, landed 
in Persia two years later. In the meantime the 
Khan of Persia had died, and the princess was wedded 
to his son. She wept when she parted from the noble 



THE TRAVELERS AT HOME IN VENICE 



39 



Venetians who had been her companions for so long. 
They went onward toward home, and reached Venice 
in 1295 or 1296, after an absence of twenty-six years. 

The Travelers at Home in Venice (a. d. 1296) 

When the three Polos reached Venice they found 
that members of their family had taken possession 




The Polo family arrives in Venice after many years. From an 
ancient manuscript. 

of their house and had divided their property. They 
had been counted as dead men. Xo w T ord of them 
5 



40 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

had reached their friends for six-and-twenty years. 
It was necessary to convince their Venetian cousins 
that they were not impostors. Here is the way they 
did it: 

They invited a number of their kindred to an enter- 
tainment, which they took care to have prepared with 
great splendor ; and when the hour arrived for sitting down 
to table, they came forth all three clothed in crimson satin, 
fashioned in long robes reaching to the ground, such as 
people in those days wore within doors. And when water 
for the hands had been served, and the guests were set, they 
took off those robes and put on others of crimson damask, 
while the first suits were by their orders cut up and divided 
among the servants. 

Then after partaking of some of the dishes, they went 
out again and came back in robes of crimson velvet; and 
when they had again taken their seats, the second suits 
were divided as before. When dinner was over, they did 
the like with the robes of velvet, after they had put on 
dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the rest of the 
company. 

These proceedings caused much wonder and amaze- 
ment among the guests. But when the cloth had been 
drawn, and all the servants had been ordered to retire 
from the dining-hall, Messer Marco, as the youngest of 
the three, rose from table, and, going into another cham- 
ber, brought forth the three shabby dresses of coarse stuff 
which they had worn when they first arrived. 

Straightway they took sharp knives and began to rip 
up some of the seams, and to take out of them jewels in 
vast quantities, such as rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, dia- 
monds, and emeralds, which had all been stitched up in 
those dresses in so artful a fashion that nobody could 
have suspected the fact. For when they took leave of the 



HOW THE BOOK CAME TO BE WRITTEN 41 

Great Khan they had changed all their wealth into this 
mass of rubies, emeralds, and other jewels, being well 
aware of the impossibility of carrying with them so great 
an amount of gold over a journey of such extreme length 
and difficulty. 

Now this exhibition of such a huge treasure of jewels 
and precious stones, all tumbled out upon the table, threw 
the guests into fresh amazement, insomuch that they 
seemed quite bewildered and dumfounded. And now 
they recognized that in spite of all former doubts these 
were in truth those honored and worthy gentlemen of 
the Ca' Polo * that they claimed to be ; and so all paid 
them the greatest honor. 

And when the story got wind in Venice, straightway 
the whole city, gentle and simple, f nocked to the house 
to embrace them, and to make much of them, with every 
conceivable demonstration of affection and respect. On 
Messer Maffeo, who was the eldest, they conferred the 
honors of an office that was of great dignity in those 
days; while the young men came daily to visit and con- 
verse with the ever polite and gracious Messer Marco, and 
to ask him questions about Cathay and the Great Khan, 
all of which he answered with such kindly courtesy that 
every man felt himself in a manner his debtor. 

How the Book of Ser Marco Polo came to be 
written Six Hundred Years ago (a. d. 1299) 

Marco Polo had not the slightest desire to write 
a book about bis adventures. Though he had kept 
a kind of a diary in China, it was entirely for his 
own u^e. He wanted to live in Venice, to enjoy his 

* The house of Polo, the family of Polo. 
f Noblemen and common folk. 



42 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

life quietly, and to be respected by his fellow citi- 
zens. He was perfectly willing to converse with his 
friends about his travels, but we should never have 
had his book if it had not been for a war that was 
going on between Genoa and Venice. 

These two cities, you know, were rivals for the 
trade of the East — of the Levant * — and they were 
often at war. Marco Polo was a rich and powerful 
noble, a man of great experience in wars by sea and 
land, and so he was made " Gentleman Commander " 
of one of the war-galleys of the* Venetian navy. 

There are several things to notice in the interest- 
ing picture on page 43. In the first place, the galley 
was rigged with sails, so that advantage could be 
taken of favorable winds; but her motive power was 
the oars of the rowers. These men sat on benches 
along the sides, and pulled huge sweeps or oars. Two 
larger sweeps at the stern (the cut shows one of them 
plainly, and the other if you look sharply) served for 
rudders. 

The archers and spearmen were crowded along 
the main deck, while the officers were on a higher 
platform at the stern. At the bow was a machine 
for throwing huge stones on to the decks of an ene- 
my's vessel so as to sink her, or at least so as to 
wound as many of her company as possible. 

This galley carries the flag of Venice (the lion 
of St. Mark) at the foremast, and Marco Polo's pri- 
vate banner (his coat of arms) at the main. The beak 
of the ship is made sharp, to be used as a ram. 

* The further East is called the Levant, the place where the 
sun seems to rise. Levant in French means rising. 



44 



THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 



In a battle, which lasted all day, the Venetians 
were beaten, and Marco Polo, with seven thousand 




War-ships of the Middle Ages with banners on their sails. 
The ships of the Vikings were somewhat like these. 

others, was taken prisoner, and put in chains. Sixty- 
six of the Venetian galleys were burned; eighteen 
were taken to Genoa. The Venetian admiral in de- 
spair dashed his head against a bench and died. The 
other prisoners were carried in triumph to Genoa. 
Marco was thrown into prison along with a gentle- 
man of Pisa named Pusticiano; and it is to Marco's 
imprisonment (he was not released till 1299) that 
we owe his book. He wrote it, or rather dictated 
it, at this time. You will notice that it always speaks 
of him in the third person. It says " lie did so and 
so/' not " / did." (See page xvi.) Marco Polo died 
in Venice in the year 1324, leaving a wife and three 
daughters, but no son to bear his name. 

He bequeathed money to his family and friends, 
to various convents and religious houses, and set free 
his servant " Peter the Tartar " and gave him money. 



CHAPTEE III 

The adventures of Ser Marco Polo — Introduction to his book 
— Description of Armenia — Mount Ararat — Noah's ark — Of the 
great city of Bagdad and how it was taken by the Mongols (a. d. 
1258) — Of the great country of Persia — Concerning the great 
city of Yezd — Of the city of Camadi and its ruins — Also touching 
the Caraona robbers (the Hazaras) — Of the city of Hormuz. 

The Adventures of Ser Marco Polo 

Introduction to his Booh 

Great Princes, Emperors, and Kings, Dukes, and 
Marquises, Counts, Knights, and Burgesses! and People 
of all degrees who desire to get knowledge of the various 
races of mankind and of the diversities of the sundry 
regions of the World, take this Book and cause it to be 
read to you. 

For ye shall find therein all kinds of wonderful things, 
and the divers histories of the great Armenia, and of 
Persia, and of the Land of the Tartars, and of India, 
and of many another country of which our Book doth 
speak, particularly and in regular succession, according 
to the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble 
citizen of Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes. 

Some things indeed there be therein which he beheld 
not ; but these he heard from men of credit and veracity. 
And we shall set down things seen as seen, and things 
heard as heard only, so that no jot of falsehood may mar 

45 



46 THE ADVENT UKES OP MARCO POLO 

the truth of our Book, and that all who shall read it or 
hear it read may put full faith in the truth of all its 
contents. 

For let me tell you that since our Lord God did mold 
with his hands our first Father Adam, even until this day, 
never hath there been Christian, or Pagan, or Tartar, or 
Indian, or any man of any nation, who in his own person 
hath had so much knowledge and experience of the divers 
parts of the World and its Wonders as hath had this 
Messer Marco! 

And for that reason he bethought himself that it 
would be a very great pity did he not cause to be put 
in writing all the great marvels that he had seen, or on 
sure information heard of, so that other people who had 
not these advantages might, by his book, get such knowl- 
edge. 

And I may tell you that in acquiring this knowledge 
he spent in those various parts of the world good six- 
and-twenty years. ~Now, being thereafter an inmate of 
the prison of Genoa, he caused Messer Rusticiano of Pisa, 
who was in the said prison likewise, to reduce the whole 
to writing ; and this befell in the year 1298 from the birth 
of Jesus. 

Description of Armenia * 

This is a great country. It possesses the best baths 
from natural springs that are anywhere to be found. The 
people of the country are Armenians, and are subject to 
the Tartars. 

* Armenia is now a province of Turkey in Asia, but it was 
formerly an independent country, conquered and reconquered by 
the Greeks of Constantinople and the Mohammedans many times 
in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. It 
was overrun by the Mongols in a. d. 1235. Its last king was 
taken prisoner by the Saracens in 1375. 



DESCRIPTION OF ARMENIA 47 

The country is indeed a passing great one, and in the 
summer it is frequented by the whole host of the Tartars 
of the Levant, because it then furnishes them with such 
excellent pasture for their cattle. But in winter the cold 
is past all bounds, so in that season they quit this country 
and go to a warmer region where they find other good 
pastures. 

And you must know that it is in this country of Her- 
menia that the Ark of Xoah exists on the top of a certain 
great mountain, on the summit of which snow is so con- 
stant that no one can ascend; for the snow never melts, 
and is constantly added to by new falls. Below, however, 
the snow does melt, and runs down, producing rich and 
abundant herbage. 

The country is bounded on the south by a kingdom 
called Mosul, the people of which are Jacobite and Nes- 
torian Christians, of whom I shall have more to tell you 
presently. On the north it is bounded by the Land of 
the Georgians, of whom also I shall speak. On the con- 
fines of Georgia there is a fountain from which oil springs 
in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred ship-loads 
might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not 
good to use with food, but 'tis good to burn, and is also 
used to anoint camels that have the mange. People come 
from vast distances to fetch it, for in all the countries 
round about they have no other oil. 

Marco Polo here describes one of the great oil- 
fields (petroleum oil) of the world, near Baku, on 
the Caspian Sea. Some of its wells of oil and gas 
have been burning for centuries, and the temples of 
the Fire- Worshipers (Parsees) stood here from very 
early times. 



4:8 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



Of the Great City of Bagdad, and how it was 

TAKEN BY THE MONGOLS (a. D. 1258) 

Bagdad is a great city, which used to be the seat of 
the Caliph of all the Saracens in the world, just as Rome 
is the seat of the Pope of all the Christians. A very great 
river (the Tigris) flows through the city, and by this you 
can descend to the Sea of India. There is a great traffic 
of merchants with their goods this way ; they descend some 
eighteen days from Bagdad, and then they enter the Sea 
of India. There is also on the river a great city called 
Bassorah (Basra), surrounded by woods, in which grow 
the best dates in the world. 

In Bagdad they weave many different kinds of silk 
stuffs and gold brocades, such as cramoisy (crimson, often 
crimson velvet), and many other beautiful tissues richly 
wrought with figures of beasts and birds. It is the noblest 
and greatest city in all those regions. 

Now it came to pass on a day in the year of Christ 
1258, that the Lord of the Tartars of the Levant, whose 
name was Hulaku, brother to the Great Khan now reign- 
ing, gathered a mighty host and came up against Bagdad 
and took it by storm. It was a great enterprise! for in 
Bagdad there were more than one hundred thousand horse, 
besides foot soldiers. 

And when Hulaku had taken the place he found 
therein a tower of the Caliphs, which was full of gold and 
silver; in fact, the greatest accumulation of treasure in 
one spot that was ever known. When he beheld that great 
heap of treasure he was astonished, and, summoning the 
Caliph to his presence, he said to him: "Caliph, tell me 
now why thou hast gathered such a huge treasure ? What 
didst thou mean to do therewith? Knewest thou not that 
I was thine enemy, and that I was coming against thee 



OF THE GREAT COUNTRY OF PERSIA 49 

with a great army to cast thee forth of thine heritage? 
Wherefore didst thou not employ it in paying knights 
and soldiers to defend thee and thy city ? " 

The Caliph knew not what to answer, and said never 
a word. So the Prince continued : " Now then, Caliph, 
since I see what a love thou hast borne thy treasure, I 
will even give it thee to eat ! " So he shut the Caliph 
up in the Treasure Tower, and bade that neither meat 
nor drink should be given him, saying : " Now, Caliph, 
eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art 
so fond of it; for never shalt thou have aught else to 
eat!" 

So the Caliph lingered in the tower four days, and 
then died like a dog. Truly his treasure would have been 
of more service to him had he bestowed it upon men who 
would have defended his kingdom and his people, rather 
than let himself be taken and put to death as he was. 
Howbeit, since that time, there has been never another 
Caliph, either at Bagdad or anywhere else.* 

Of the Great Country of Persia 

Persia is a great country which was in old times 
very illustrious and powerful; but now the Tartars have 
wasted and destroyed it. In this country of Persia there 
is a great supply of fine horses, and people take them to 
India for sale, for they are horses of great price [a single 
one being worth as much of their money as is equal to 
nearly $1,000 of American money] ; some will be more, 
some less, according to the quality. Dealers carry their 
horses to cities on the shores of the Sea of India, and 

* Caliph means "successor" ; that is, the successor of Mo- 
hammed. The Sultans of Turkey, who are Lords of Arabia, now 
claim and use this title. 



50 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

there they meet with merchants who take the horses on 
to India for sale. 

In this country there are many cruel and murderous 
people, so that no day passes but there is some homicide 
among them. Were it not for the Government, which is 
that of the Tartars of the Levant, they would do great 
mischief to merchants; and indeed, in spite of the Gov- 
ernment, they often succeed in doing such mischief. 

Unless merchants be well armed they run the risk of 
being murdered, or at least robbed of everything; and it 
sometimes happens that a whole party perishes in this 
way when not on their guard. The people are all Sara- 
cens — i. e., followers of the Law of Mohammed. 

In the cities there are traders and artisans who live 
by their labor and crafts, weaving cloths of gold, and silk 
stuffs of sundry kinds. They have plenty of cotton, and 
abundance of wheat, barley, millet, and wine, with fruit 
of all kinds. 

Concerning the Great City of Yezd 

Yezd is a good and noble city, and has a great amount 
of trade. They weave there quantities of a certain silk 
tissue known as Yasdi, which merchants carry into many 
quarters to dispose of. The people are worshipers of 
Mohammed. 

When you leave this city to travel further, you ride 
for seven days over great plains, finding cover to receive 
you at three places only. There are many fine woods, 
and in them there is great sport to be had in hunting 
and hawking, there being partridges and quails and 
abundance of other game, so that the merchants who pass 
that way have plenty of diversion. At the end of those 
seven marches over the plain you come to a fine kingdom 
which is called Kirman. 



CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF KIRMAN 51 



Concerning the Kingdom of Kirman 

In this kingdom are produced the stones called tur- 
quoises in great abundance; they are found in the moun- 
tains, where they are extracted from the rocks. The peo- 
ple are very skilful in making harness of war; their 
saddles, bridles, spurs, swords, bows, quivers, and arms of 
every kind are very well made indeed, according to the 
fashion of those parts. 

The ladies of the country and their daughters also 
produce exquisite needlework in the embroidery of silk 
stuffs in different colors, with figures of beasts and birds, 
trees and flowers, and a variety of other patterns. They 
work hangings for the use of noblemen so deftly that 
they are marvels to see, as well as cushions, pillows, quilts, 
and all sorts of things. 

In the mountains of Kirman are found the best fal- 
cons in the world. They are red on the breast, under 
the neck, and between the thighs; their flight so swift 
that no bird can escape them. 

On quitting the city you ride on for seven days, al- 
ways finding towns, villages, and handsome dwelling- 
houses, so that it is very pleasant traveling; and there 
is excellent sport also to be had by the way in hunting 
and hawking. When you have ridden those seven days 
over a plain country, you come to a great mountain; 
and when you have got to the top of the pass, you find 
a great descent which occupies some two days to go 
down. 

All along you find a variety and abundance of fruits ; 
and in former days there were plenty of inhabited places 
on the road, but now there are none; and you meet with 
only a few people looking after their cattle at pasture. 
From the city of Kirman to this descent the cold in 



52 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



winter is so great that you can scarcely abide it, even 
with a great quantity of clothing. 

Of the City of Camadi and its Ruins; also 

TOUCHING THE CaKAONA RoBBEKS 

After you have ridden downhill those two days, you 
find yourself in a vast plain, and at the beginning thereof 
there is a city, which formerly was a great and noble 
place, but now is of little consequence, for the Tartars 
in their incursions have several times ravaged it. The 
plain whereof I speak is a very hot region. 

The beasts of the country are peculiar; and first I 
will tell you of their oxen. These are very large, and all 




The zebu, the Indian ox. 

over white as snow; the hair is very short and smooth, 
which is owing to the heat of the country. The horns 
are short and thick, not sharp in the point; and between 
the shoulders they have a round hump some two palms 
high. There are no handsomer creatures in the world. 
And when they have to be loaded, they kneel like the 



OF THE CITY OF HORMUZ 53 

camel; once the load is adjusted, they rise. Their load 
is a heavy one, for they are very strong animals. Then 
there are sheep here as big as donkeys ; and their tails are 
so large* and fat that one tail shall weigh some thirty 
pounds. They are fine fat beasts, and afford capital 
mutton. 

In this plain there are a number of villages and towns 
which have lofty walls of mud, made as a defense against 
the banditti, who are very numerous, and are called 
Caraonas. You must know that when Caraonas wish to 
make a plundering incursion, they ride abreast, keeping 
near one another, sometimes to the number of ten thou- 
sand, at other times more or fewer. 

In this way they extend across the whole plain that 
they are going to harry, and catch every living thing that 
is found outside of the towns and villages; man, woman, 
or beast, nothing can escape them! The old men whom 
they take in this way they butcher; the young men and 
the women they sell for slaves in other countries; thus 
the whole land is ruined, and has become well-nigh a 
desert. 

JSTow that I have told you of those scoundrels and 
their history, I must add the fact that Messer Marco him- 
self was all but caught by their bands; but, as it pleased 
God, he got off and threw himself into a village that was 
hard by. Howbeit he lost his whole company except seven 
persons who escaped along with him. The rest were 
caught, and some of them sold, some put to death. 

Of the City of Hoemuz (Okmus) 

The plain of which we have spoken extends for five 
days' journey, and then you come to another descent, 

* This sounds to us like a large story ; but it is true. 



54 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

where the road is very bad and full of peril, for there are 
many robbers about. After two more days you come to 
the ocean sea, and on the shore you find a city which 
is called Hormuz. Merchants come thither from India 
with ships loaded with spicery and precious stones, pearls, 
cloths of gold and silver, elephants' teeth, and many 
other wares, which they sell to the merchants of Hor- 
muz, and which these, in turn, carry all over the world 
to dispose of again. In fact, 'tis a city of immense 
trade. 

Their ships are wretched affairs, and many of them 
get lost; for they have no iron fastenings, and are only 
stitched together with twine. The ships are not pitched, 
but are rubbed with fish-oil. They have one mast, one 
sail, and one rudder, and have no deck, but only a cover 
spread over the cargo when loaded. This cover consists 
of hides, and on the top of these hides they put the horses 
which they take to India for sale. 

They have no iron to make nails of, and for this 
reason they use only wooden treenails in their ship-build- 
ing, and then stitch the planks with twine as I have told 
you. Hence 'tis a perilous business to go a voyage in 
one of those ships, and many of them are lost, for in that 
Sea of India the storms are often terrible. 

The people are black, and are worshipers of Moham- 
med. The residents avoid living in the cities, for the 
heat in summer is so great that it would kill them. Hence 
they go out (to sleep) at their gardens in the country, 
where there are streams and plenty of water. For all 
that they would not escape but for one thing that I will 
mention. 

The fact is, you see, that in summer a wind often 
blows across the sands which encompass the plain, so 
intolerably hot that it would kill everybody, were it not 
that, when they perceive that wind coming, they plunge 



OF THE CITY OF HORMUZ 55 

into water up to the neck, and so abide until the wind 
have ceased. 

In the month of May, 1^-t^, a Persian poet — 
Abd-er-Razzak — was on the shores of the Persian 
Gulf. He evidently felt these hot winds, for he 
lias left us this comical account of the hot weather: 

Soon as the sun shone forth from the height of heaven, 
The heart of stone grew hot beneath its orb; 

The horizon was so much scorched-up by its rays 
That the heart of stone became soft like wax ; 
The bodies of the fishes, at the bottom of the fish-ponds, 
Burned tike the silk which is exposed to the lire I 
Both the water and the air gave out so burning a heat 
Tli at the fish went away to seek refuge in the fire ! 
In the plains hunting became a matter of perfect ea<: 
For the desert was filled with roasted gazelles ! 



CHAPTEK IV 

The Deserts — Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain — The 
Assassins — Concerning the city of Balkh — Of Talikan and the 
mountains of salt — Of the province of Badakhshan — Of the prov- 
ince of Chitral — Of the province of Kashmir — History of Boodha 
— The Plateau of the Pamir — Travelers' tales. 

The Deserts 

Now, then, I am going to tell you about the countries 
toward the north, of which you shall hear in regular order. 
Let us begin. 

Marco Polo is going from Hormuz, at the mouth 
of the Persian Gulf, northeastward across Persia to 
Bokhara, and from there eastward across the Hima- 
laya Mountains and the high plateau of the Pamir 
(12,000 feet above the sea) to the extreme western 
border of China. His chapters now have gloomy 
titles, like this one: Of the Wearisome and Desert 
Boad that has now to be Traveled, or this: Concerning 
a Certain Desert that continues for Eight Days' 
Journ ey. 

He not only tells what he has himself seen, but 
also recounts stories told to him by others. Some- 
times he believes such stories; sometimes he sets them 
down in his book because other people believed them. 
Here is one that has a real foundation in fact, mar- 
velous as it seems: 
56 



CONCERNING THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 57 



Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain 

I will tell you his whole history as related by Messer 
Marco Polo, who heard it from several natives of that 
region. 

The Old Man was called in their language Aladdin. 
He had caused a certain valley between two mountains 
to be enclosed, and had turned it into a garden, the larg- 
est and most beautiful that ever was seen, filled with every 
variety of fruit. In it were erected pavilions and palaces, 
the most elegant that can be imagined, all covered with 
gilding and exquisite paintings. 

And there were little brooks, too, flowing freely with 
wine and milk and honey and water; and numbers of 
ladies, the most beautiful in the world, who could play 
on all manner of instruments, and sang most sweetly, and 
danced in a manner that it was charming to behold. For 
the Old Man desired to make his people believe that this 
was actually Paradise. 

So he had fashioned it after the description that Mo- 
hammed gave of his Paradise, to wit, that it should be 
a beautiful garden running with conduits of wine and 
milk and honey and water; and sure enough the Saracens 
of those parts believed that it was Paradise. 

Now no man was allowed to enter the Garden save 
those whom he intended to be his Assassins. There was 
a Fortress at the entrance to the Garden, strong enough 
to resist all the world, and there was no other way to get 
in. He kept at his Court (that is, outside of the garden) 
a number of the youths of the country, from twelve to 
twenty years of age, such as had a taste for soldiering, 
and to these he used to tell tales about Paradise, just as 
Mohammed had been wont to do, and they believed in 
him just as the Saracens believe in Mohammed. 

Then he would introduce them into his Garden, some 



58 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

four, or six, or ten at a time, having first made them drink 
a certain potion (of hashish, a drug like opium) which 
cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing them to 
be lifted and carried in. So when they awoke they found 
themselves in the Garden. 

Now this Prince whom we call the Old One kept his 
Court in grand and noble style, and made those simple 
hill-folks about him believe firmly that he was a great 
Prophet. And when he wanted one of his Assassins to 
go on any mission, he would cause that potion, whereof 
I spoke, to be given to one of the youths in the Garden, 
and then had him carried back into the Palace. 

So when the young man awoke, he found himself in 
the Castle, and no longer in that Paradise; whereat he 
was not overwell pleased. He was then conducted to the 
Old Man's presence, and bowed before him with great 
veneration, believing himself to be in the presence of a 
true Prophet. 

The Prince would then ask whence he came, and he 
would reply that he came from Paradise ! and that it was 
exactly such as Mohammed had described it in the Koran. 
This of course gave the others who stood by, and who had 
not been admitted, the greatest desire to enter therein. 

So when the Old Man wished to have any Prince 
slain, he would say to such a youth : " Go thou, and slay 
So-and-So ; and when thou returnest my Angels shall bear 
thee into Paradise. And shouldst thou die, nevertheless 
even so will I send my Angels to carry thee back into 
Paradise." 

So he caused them to believe; and thus there was no 
order of his that they would not face any peril to execute, 
because of the great desire they had to get back into that 
Paradise of his. And in this manner the Old One got 
his people to murder any one whom he desired to get 
rid of. 



CONCERNING THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 59 

Now it came to pass in the year 1252, that Haluku 
Khan, Lord of the Tartars of the Levant, heard of these 
great crimes of the Old Man, and resolved to make an 
end of him. So he sent one of his Barons with a great 
Army to that Castle, and they besieged it for three years, 
but they could not take it, so strong was it. 

And indeed if they had had food within, it never 
would have been taken. But after being besieged those 
three years they ran short of victual, and were taken. The 
Old Man was put to death with all his men, and the Castle 
with its Garden of Paradise was leveled with the ground. 
And since that time he has had no successor; and there 
was an end to all his villainies. 

The " potion " that was given to the youths was, 
as has been said, hashish, a drug like opium. It 
sends you off to a deep sleep filled with pleasant 
dreams. The Arabs called people who used this drug 
hashishiyyin. And as the Old Man of the Mountain 
set his youths to murdering and slaying, they came 
to be called assassins. And that is the way that this 
word, assassin — one who murders — got into our Eng- 
lish language. The story is strange, and so far exact- 
ly true. Just how much truth there is in the rest of 
it we can not tell. There certainly was an Old Man 
of the Mountain — in fact, several such in different 
countries. The crusaders, for instance, knew of one 
in Syria long before Marco's time. 

The Old Alan of Syria was dreaded far and near 
by both Saracens and Christians, because he so often 
caused princes to be murdered. For he used to bring 
up in his palace youths belonging to his country, 
teaching them above all things to fear him and to 



60 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

obey him unto death, promising them an entrance 
into the joys of Paradise. When the Christian King 
of Jerusalem was once on a visit to the Old Man of 
Syria, one day as they walked together they saw 
some lads sitting at the top of a high tower. The 
Old Man, turning to the King, asked if he had any 
subjects as obedient as were his own; and, without 
giving time for a reply, made a sign to two of the 
boys, who immediately leaped from the tower, and 
were killed on the spot. They obeyed because they 
were sure of Paradise, they believed. 

Concerning the City of Balkh 

Balkh is a noble city and a great, though it was much 
greater in former days. But the Tartars and other na- 
tions have greatly ravaged and destroyed it. There were 
formerly many fine palaces and buildings of marble, and 
the ruins of them still remain. Here, you should be told, 
is the end of. the empire of the Tartar Khan of the Le- 
vant, and this city is also the limit of Persia. 

When you have quitted the city you ride some twelve 
days toward the northeast without finding any human 
habitation, for the people have all taken refuge among 
the mountains, on account of the robbers and the armies 
that harassed them. There is plenty of water on the road, 
and abundance of game; there are lions too. You can 
get no provisions on the road, and must carry with you 
all that you require for these twelve days. 

Of Talikan, and the Mountains of Salt 

Talikan is a fine place, and the mountains that you 
see toward the south are all composed of salt. People 
from all the countries round, to some thirty days' journey, 



OF TALIKAN, AND THE MOUNTAINS OF SALT 61 

come to fetch this salt, which is the best in the world, and 
is so hard that it can only be broken with iron picks.- 'Tis 
in such abundance that it would supply the whole world 
to the end of time. 

When you have ridden three days you find a town 
called Kishm. There are a great many porcupines here- 
about, and very large ones too. When hunted with dogs, 
several of them will get together and huddle close, shoot- 
ing their quills at the dogs,* which get many a serious 




A porcupine. 

wound thereby. At the end of three days you reach a 
province called Badakhshan, about which we shall now 
tell you. 



* Of course porcupines do not slioot their quills. When the 
dogs bite them the sharp quills wound their mouths and heads, 
and that is quite enough. 



62 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



Of the Province of Badakhshan 

Badakhshan is inhabited by people who worship Mo- 
hammed, and have a peculiar language. It is in this 
province that those fine and valuable gems, the Balass 
rubies, are found. In the mountains there are vast num- 
bers of sheep, 400, 500, or 600 in a single flock, and all 
of them wild; and though many of them are taken, they 
never seem to get the scarcer. Those mountains are 
so lofty that 'tis a hard day's work, from morning till 
evening, to get to the top of them. On getting up, you 
find an extensive plain, with great abundance of grass and 
trees and copious springs of pure water running down 
through rocks and ravines. 

In those brooks are found trout and many other fish 
of dainty kinds; and the air in those regions is so pure, 
that when the men who dwell below in the towns, and in 
the valleys and plains, find themselves attacked by any 
kind of fever, they lose no time in going to the hills ; and 
after abiding there two or three days, they quite recover 
their health through the excellence of that air. And 
Messer Marco said he had proved this by experience; for 
when in those parts he was ill for about a year, but as 
soon as he was advised to visit that mountain he did so 
and got well at once. 

In this kingdom there are many straight and perilous 
passes, so difficult to force that the people have no fear 
of invasion. Their towns and villages also are on lofty 
hills, and in very strong positions. They are excellent 
archers, and much given to the chase; indeed, most of 
them are dependent for clothing on the skins of beasts, 
for stuffs are very dear among them. The great ladies, 
however, are arrayed in stuffs, and I will tell you the style 
of their dress. They all wear breeches made of cotton 



OF THE PROVINCE OF KASHMIR 63 

cloth, and into the making of these some will put 60, 80, 
or even 100 yards of stuff. 

Of the Province of Chitral 

You must know that ten days' journey to the south of 
Badakhshan there is a province called Chitral, the people 
of which have a peculiar language, and are Idolaters 
(Boodhists), of a brown complexion. They are greatly 
skilled in sorceries and magic arts. The men wear ear- 
rings and brooches of gold and silver, set with stones and 
pearls. They are a pestilent people and a crafty; and 
they live upon flesh and rice. Their country is very hot. 

Now let us proceed and speak of another country 
which is seven days' journey from this one toward the 
southeast, and the name of which is Kashmir. 

Of the Province of Kashmir 

Kashmir also is a province inhabited by a people who 
are Idolaters (Boodhists), and have a language of their 
own. They have an astonishing acquaintance with magic 
and enchantment; insomuch that they make their idols 
to speak. They can also by their sorceries bring on 
changes of weather and produce darkness and do a number 
of things so extraordinary that no one without seeing them 
would believe them. 

The men are brown and lean, but the women, taking 
them as brunettes, are very beautiful. The food of the 
people is flesh, and milk, and rice. The climate is finely 
tempered, being neither very hot nor very cold. 

There are in this country hermits (after the fashion 
of those parts), who dwell in seclusion and practise great 
abstinence in eating and drinking. They keep from all 
sins forbidden in their law, so that they are regarded 



64 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

by their own folk as holy persons. They live to a great 
age. 

There are also a number of idolatrous monasteries. 
The people of this province do not kill animals nor spill 
blood; so if they want to eat meat they get the Saracens 
who dwell among them to play the butcher. The coral 
which is carried from our parts of the world has a better 
sale there than in any other country. 

Now we will quit this country, and not go any further 
in the same direction; for if we did so we should enter 
India, and that I do not wish to do at present. For, on 
our return journey, I mean to tell you about India: all 
in regular order. Let us go back therefore to Badakhshan, 
for we can not otherwise proceed on our journey. 

You must know that one of the Ten Obligations 
or Commandments of the Boodhist monks is not to 
take life — any life — not the life of man, or beast, 
or insect. It is not right to take away, they say, 
what you can not give again. So the Boodhist monks, 
and generally all the Boodhist people, are kind to 
animals, because Boodha, who lived about five hun- 
dred years' before Christ (he was born about 560 b. c. 
and died 480 b. a), taught this doctrine. It is obeyed 
to-day by three hundred and fifty million Boodhists 
in China, Japan, Tibet, and southern India. For a 
long time northern India was- a Boodhist country, 
too; and animals all over Asia lived a happier life 
because of Boodha's teachings. 

When Marco Polo was on an embassy to the 
island of Ceylon (where the people were all Bood- 
hists) he learned the history, of this religion, and tells 
it very fully, as follows. Marco was, of course, a 



HISTORY OF BOODHA 65 

Roman Catholic (there were no Protestants until 
Luther's time, a. d. 1520), and although he admires 
the Boodhists, he calls them ." idolaters/' which 
means " worshipers of idols." This they never 
were. They had statues of Boodha in their tem- 
ples, just as there is a statue of Moses in the great 
Church of St. Peter's in Rome. Moses was a man — 
a prophet — who founded a religion. Boodha was the 
same. Neither of them claimed to be a god, and 
neither of them asked for worship from his fellow 
men. 

History of Boodha 

You must know that in the Island of Ceylon there is 
an exceeding high mountain called Adam's Peak; it rises, 
right up so steep and precipitous that no one could ascend 
it, were it not that they have taken and fixed to it several 
great and massive iron chains, so disposed that, by help 
of these, men are able to mount to the top. And I tell 
you they say that on this mountain is the tomb of Adam 
our first parent; at least that is what the Saracens say. 

But the Idolaters say that it is the sepulchre of 
Boodha, before whose time there were no idols. They 
hold him to have been the best of men, a great saint in 
fact, according to their fashion, and the first in whose 
name idols were made. 

He was the son of a great and wealthy King. And 
he was of such an holy temper that he would never listen 
to any worldly talk, nor would he consent to be king. 
And when the father saw that his son would not be 
king, nor yet take any part in affairs, he took it sorely 
to heart. And first he tried to tempt him with great 
promises, offering to crown him King, and to surrender 
all authority into his hands. 



66 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

The son, however, would have none of his offers; so 
the father was in great trouble, and all the more that 
he had no other son but him, to whom he might bequeath 
the kingdom at his own death. So, after taking thought 
on the matter, the King caused a great palace to be built, 
and placed his son therein, and caused him to be waited 
on there by a number of maidens, the most beautiful 
that could anywhere be found. And he ordered them 
to sing and dance before the Prince, so as to draw his 
heart toward worldly enjoyments. But 'twas all of no 
avail. 

And I assure you he was so staid a youth that he 
never had gone out of the palace, and thus he never had 
seen a dead man, nor any one who was not hale and 
sound; for the father never allowed any man that was 
aged or infirm to come into his presence. 

It came to pass, however, one day, that the young 
gentleman took a ride, and by the roadside he beheld a 
dead man. The sight dismayed him greatly, as he never 
had seen such a sight before. Immediately he demanded 
of those who. were with him what thing that was, and 
they told him it was a dead man. " How, then," quoth 
the king's son, " do all men die ? " " Yea, forsooth," said 
they. Whereupon the young gentleman said never a word, 
but rode on right pensively. 

And after he had ridden a good way he fell in with a 
very aged man who could no longer walk, and had not 
a tooth in his head, having lost all because of his great 
age. And when the King's son beheld this old man, he 
asked what that might mean, and wherefore the man 
could not walk. Those who were with him replied that 
it was through old age the man could walk no longer and 
had lost all his teeth. 

And so when the King's son had thus learned about 
the dead man and about the aged man, he turned back 



HISTORY OF BOODHA 67 

to his palace and said to himself that he would abide no 
longer in this evil world, but would go in search of Him 
Who dieth not and Who had created him. 

So what did he one night but take his departure from 
the palace secretly, and betake himself to certain lofty 
and pathless mountains. And there he did abide, leading 
a life of great hardship and sanctity, and keeping great 
abstinence, just as if he had been a Christian. 

And when he died, they found his body and brought 
it to his father. And when the father saw dead before 
him that son whom he loved better than himself, he was 
near going mad with sorrow. And he caused an image 
of his son to be wrought in gold and precious stones, and 
caused all his people to adore it. And they all declared 
him to be a god; and so they still say. 

They tell, moreover, that he Hath died fourscore and 
four times before this time. The first time he died as 
a man, and came to life again as an ox; and then he died 
as an ox and came to life again as a horse, and so on 
until he had died fourscore and four times; and every 
time he became some kind of animal. 

But when he died the eighty-fourth time they say he 
became a god. And they do hold him for the greatest 
of all their gods. And they tell that the aforesaid image 
of him was the first idol that the Idolaters ever had; and 
from that have originated all the other idols. And this 
befell in the Island of Ceylon in India. 

The Idolaters come thither on pilgrimage from very 
l<»ng distances and with great devotion; and they main- 
tain that the monument on the mountain is that of the 
King's son, according to the story I have been telling 
you; and that the teeth, and the hair, and the dish that 
are there, were those of the same King's son, whose name 
was Boodha, or Sakya-Muni the Saint. But the Saracens 
also come thither on pilgrimage in great numbers, and 



68 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 




A statue of Boodha. 



they say that it is the sepulchre of Adam our first father, 
and that the teeth, and the hair, and the dish were those 
of Adam. 



MARCO POLO'S SHEEP 69 

Whose they were in truth God alone knoweth; how- 
beit, according to the Holy Scripture of our Church, the 
tomb of Adam is not in that part of the world. 

In leaving- Badakhshan you ride twelve days between 
east and northeast. At the end of those twelve days you 
come to a province of no great size, extending indeed no 
more than three days' journey in any direction. The 
people worship Mohammed, and they have a peculiar 
language. They are gallant soldiers. 

There are numbers of wild beasts of all sorts in this 
region. And when you leave this little country, and ride 
three days northeast, always among mountains, you get 
to such a height that 'tis said to be the highest place in 




The head of one of Marco Polo's sheep. 

the world! And when you have got to this height, you 
find a great lake between two mountains, and out of it a 
fine river running through a plain clothed with the finest 
pasture in the world; insomuch that a lean beast there 
will fatten to your heart's content in ten days. 

There are great numbers of all kinds of wild beasts; 
among others, wild sheep of great size, whose horns are 
a good four feet in length. From these horns the shep- 
herds make great bowls to eat from, and they use the 
horns also to enclose folds for their cattle at night. 



70 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Messer Marco was told also that the wolves killed many 
of those wild sheep. Hence quantities of their horns and 
bones were found, and these were made into great heaps 
by the wayside in order to guide travelers when snow was 
on the ground. • 

The Plateau of the Pamir, 12,000 Feet above 
the Sea 

The Plain is called Pamir (the name means " the roof 
of the world"), and you ride across it for twelve days 
together, finding nothing but a desert without habitations 
or any green thing, so that travelers are obliged to carry 
with them whatever they have need of. The region is 
so lofty and cold that you do not even see any birds flying. 
And I must notice also that because of this great cold, 
fire does not burn so brightly, nor give out so much heat 
as usual, nor does it cook food so effectually. 

Travelers' Tales 

What an extravagant story this must have seemed 
to the people of Venice, who had always lived at the 
level of the sea; yet it is quite true. Water boils, 
at the level of the sea, where the pressure of the 
atmosphere is great, at 212°. That is, if you put a 
thermometer into water that has just begun to boil, 
you will always find the temperature to be 212°. 
But if you go to the top of a high mountain, where 
there is much less air above you (and where, of 
course, the air presses less on the water to be boiled), 
you will find that the temperature of boiling water 
is much less. On the top of Mont Blanc, in Swit- 
zerland (15,781 feet high), water will boil at 185°. 
So that an egg boiled for three minutes is a very 



TRAVELERS' TALES 71 

different thing on Mont Blanc from what it is at 
Xew York. When Marco Polo told this story in 
Venice, I suppose few people believed him. Kobody 
could know the reason of it in those days, nor until 
1643, when Torricelli (tor-re-chel'le), an Italian of 
Florence, invented the barometer and measured the 
pressure of the air with it. 

Very likely the Venetians doubted Marco's story 
about the sheep with horns four feet long, too. Yet 
the sheep are there to-day, and some of them have 
horns nearly five feet long. The scientific men call 
this animal Ovis Poll, which is the Latin for Polo's 
sheep. Modern travelers tell us also that even to-day 
the roads over the high plains of the Pamir are 
marked by large piles of the horns of dead sheep 
projecting above the snow. Yet Polo's Venetian 
friends laughed in their sleeves and said, " There's 
a traveler's tale for you." 

All through this book you will find instances of 
the sort. Whatever Marco Polo saw for himself, he 
usually describes correctly. He does not always ex- 
plain it correctly. For instance, he could not possi- 
bly have understood about the low boiling-point of 
water on high mountains. Xo one could understand 
this until the barometer was invented. But he told 
the facts as he observed them. Sometimes he tells 
strange tales that he heard from the country-people. 
Many of these tales are true, or partly true — as the 
story of the Old Man of the Mountain and his assas- 
sins. Some of them are mere inventions. But all 
of them are interesting because they show what the 
people believed and what Marco Polo thought was 
7 



72 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

worth writing down. They show that, if nothing 
else. 

One of the copyists of Marco Polo's manuscript 
tells us very frankly what he thought about it. He 
had just copied the whole book. At the end of it 
he writes : " The contents seem to me incredible, 
not lies so much as miracles. What he says may 
all be very true, but I don't believe it; though, to 
be sure, throughout the world very different things 
are found in different countries." Then he signs 
his name and says he finished the copy complete 
November 12, a. d. 1392. No doubt people in gen- 
eral held the same opinion: the book was entertain- 
ing, but not true. It is only of late years that it 
has been shown to be true; but any one might have 
seen, it seems, the good faith and sincerity with 
which it was written. Marco Polo writes like a 
truthful man. 

You must always remember how this book was 
composed. Marco was in prison walking up and 
down and talking to his friend, who wrote down what 
he had to say. It was like a long conversation to pass 
the time. He was probably wondering if he would 
ever be released and allowed to return to Venice — 
wondering if, after twenty-six years of journeying 
over half the earth and after being a governor of 
a great city in China, he was to end his days miser- 
ably in prison. He had no idea at all of writing an 
encyclopedia. He was talking about his own adven- 
tures and telling a few things that might be useful 
to other Venice merchants — where they could sell 
coral or buy gold brocades and ivory, and so forth. 



CHAPTER V 

Marco Polo enters the kingdom of the Grand Khan of Tar 
tary — Of the desert of Gobi — Concerning the Salamander — Con- 
cerning the black stones that are dug in Cathay and are burned 
for fuel (coal) — Of the city of Karakoram — Of those that did 
reign after Jenghiz Khan — Concerning the customs of the Tar- 
tars — Concerning the Tartar customs of war — Concerning the 
administration of justice among the Tartars — The great wall of 
China. 

Marco Polo enters the Kingdom of the Grand 
Khan of Tartary 

Marco and his party entered the Great Khan's 
dominions by way of Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan, 
and finally comes to the great desert of Gobi — you 
can find it on the map (page 5) — which he crosses 
at its western end. 

Of the Great Desert of Gobi 

The length of this Desert is so great that 'tis said it 
would take a year and more to ride from one end of it 
to the other. And here, where its breadth is least, it takes 
a month to cross it. 'Tis all composed of hills and valleys 
of sand, and not a thing to eat is to be found on it. 

But after riding for a day and a night you find fresh 
water enough mayhap for some fifty or a hundred persons 
with their beasts, but not for more. And all across the 
Desert you will find water in like manner, that is to say, 

73 



74 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

in some twenty-eight places altogether you will find good 
water, but in no great quantity; and in four places also 
you find brackish water. 

Beasts there are none ; for there is naught for them to 
eat. But there is a marvelous thing related of this Desert, 
which is that when travelers are on the move by night 
and one of them chances to lag behind, or to fall asleep 
or the like, when he tries to gain his company again he 
will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his 
comrades. 

Sometimes the spirits will call him by name ; and thus 
shall a traveler ofttimes be led astray, so that he never 
finds his party. And in this way many have perished. 
Sometimes the stray travelers will hear as it were the 
tramp and hum of a great cavalcade of people away from 
the real line of road, and taking this to be their own 
company they will follow the sound ; and when day breaks 
they find that a cheat has been put on them, and that 
they are in an ill plight. 

Even in the daytime one hears those spirits talking. 
And sometimes you shall hear the sound of a variety of 
musical instruments, and still more commonly the sound 
of drums. Hence in making this journey 'tis customary 
for travelers to keep close together. All the animals too 
have bells at their necks, so that they can not easily get 
astray. And at sleeping-time a signal is put up to show 
the direction of the next march. 

So thus it is that the Desert is crossed. 

Other travelers have something of the same sort 
to say. A Chinese historian, describing the route, 

says: 

You have to cross a plain of sand, extending for more 
than one hundred leagues. You see nothing in any direc- 



CONCERNING THE SALAMANDER 75 

tion but the sky and the sands, without the slightest 
trace of a road; and travelers find nothing to guide them 
but the bones of men and beasts. During the passage of 
this wilderness you hear sounds, sometimes of singing, 
sometimes of wailing; and it has often happened that 
travelers, going aside to see what those sounds might be, 
have strayed from their course and been entirely lost; 
for they were voices of spirits and goblins. 

Noises like voices, or more often like drums, are 
produced when the sands are moved by the wind, and 
travelers in all parts of the world have described 
them. There is a natural reason for such sounds, 
then, and it is not necessary to invent goblins or 
spirits to account for them. 

Concerning the Salamander 

After traveling thirty days in the great desert 
Marco came to provinces and cities on the other side. 
In one of them he found " a vein of the substance 
of which the Salamander is made." You must know 
that all the ancient world believed that there were 
four elements — air, earth, fire, and water — and that 
beings of some sort inhabited them: birds, the air: 
worms, the earth; fish, the water; and salamanders, 
the fire. A salamander was supposed to be shaped 
like a lizard, and to live in the fire; at least, not to 
mind living in it. Marco Polo describes asbestos, 
which is a mineral, composed of silky fibers that you 
can separate with a knife. It is entirely incombusti- 
ble. Fire only burns oif the dirt on it and leaves it 
clean and white. It can be made into a kind of cloth, 
and our firemen have coats of it that look like water- 



76 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

proofs and are fireproof. There is plenty of it in 
mines in America, and Marco Polo found some of 
it in Tartary. Here is what he says about it: 

In the same mountain there is a vein of the substance 
from which Salamander is made. For the real truth is 
that the Salamander is no beast, as they say in our part 
of the world, but is a substance found in the earth; and 
I will tell you about it. 

Everybody must be aware that it can be no animal's 
nature to live in fire, seeing that every animal is com- 
posed of all the four elements. Now I, Marco Polo, had 
a Turkish acquaintance of the name of Zurficar, and he 
was a very clever fellow. And this Turk related how 
he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the 
Great Khan, in order to procure those Salamanders for 
him. 

He said that the way they got them was by digging 
in that mountain till they found a certain vein. The sub- 
stance of this vein was then taken and crushed, and when 
so treated it divides as it were into fibers of wool, which 
they set forth to dry. When dry, these fibers were pounded 
in a great copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove 
all the earth, and to leave only fibers like wool. These 
were then spun, and made into napkins. 

When first made, these napkins are not very white, 
but by putting them into the fire for a while they come 
out as white as snow. And so again whenever they be- 
come dirty they are bleached by being put in the fire. 

Now this, and naught else, is the truth about the 
Salamander, and the people of the country all say the 
same. Any other account of the matter is fabulous non- 
sense. And I may add that they have at Pome a napkin 
of this stuff, which the Grand Khan sent to the Pope. 






OF THE CITY OF KARAKORAM 77 

Coal was known in England from very early 
times, but wood was the only fuel of Europe till 
after Marco Polo's day. He tells us that it was 
used in China. 

Concerning the Black Stones that are dug in 
Cathay, and are burnt for Fuel 

It is a fact that all over the country of China there 
is a kind of black stone existing in beds in the mountains, 
which they dig out and burn like firewood. If you supply 
a fire with them at night, and see that they are well 
kindled, you will find them still alight in the morning; 
and they make such capital fuel that no other is used 
throughout the country. It is true that they have plenty 
of wood also, but they do not burn it, because these stones 
burn better and cost less. 

On leaving this province you ride ten days between 
northeast and east, and in all that way you find no human 
dwelling, or next to none, so that there is nothing for 
our book to speak of. 

Now we will leave this and tell you about other 
provinces to the north, for we are going to take you a 
sixty days' journey in that direction. 

Of the City of Karakoram * (ka-ra-ko'ram) 

It is a city of some three miles in circumference, 
surrounded by a strong earthen wall, for stone is scarce 
there. And there is within it a great citadel, wherein is 
a fine palace in which the Governor resides. 'Tis the first 
city that the Tartars possessed after they came out of 

* It was about one hundred miles south of Lake Baikal. Find 
it on the map. 



78 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

their own country (and it was their capital city until the 
year 1256). 

Originally the Tartars dwelt in the north. Their 
country was one of great plains, and there were no towns 
or villages in it, but excellent pasture-lands, with abun- 
dance of water. But there was no King in the land. 
Now it came to pass that the Tartars multiplied exceed- 
ingly (and in the year 1206 Jenghiz Khan became the 
King of all the Tartars, as you have heard before). 

Of Those that did reign after Jenghiz Khan 
Now the next that did reign after Jenghiz Khan was 
Okkodai, his son, and the third prince was Kuyuk Khan, 
his grandson, and the fourth was Mangku Khan, another 
grandson, the sixth, Kublai Khan, who is the sovereign 
now reigning. If you were to put together all the Chris- 
tians in the world, with their emperors and their kings — 
aye, and throw in the Saracens to boot — the whole of these 
Christians would not have such power, or be able to do 
as much as this Kublai, who is Lord of all the Tartars 
in the world. I mean to show you all about this great 
power of his in this book of ours. 

Prester (Presbyter) John 
Somewhere in these regions Marco Polo sup- 
posed a Christian king — Prester John — to live. Eu- 
ropeans for centuries thought that somewhere in the 
north there lived a Tartar monarch who was a Chris- 
tian (and no doubt there did) ; and various kings wrote 
letters to him to ask his help against the Saracens. 
If they had found him he would have proved to be 
some petty chief, not the great king they thought. 
He is only mentioned here to explain that line of 
Shakespeare's (Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, 



CONCERNING THE CUSTOMS OF THE TARTARS 79 

Scene I, line 276, where Benedick, a young lord of 
Florence, is speaking of things he would rather do 
than to talk to a sharp-tongued girl. He says: "I 
will fetch you a tooth-picker from the farthest inch 
of Asia; bring you the length of Prester John's foot; 
fetch you a hair of the Great Khan's heard "... 
rather than say three words to this girl. Shake- 
speare had read Marco Polo. 

CoXCERXING THE CUSTOMS OF THE TARTARS 

You should be told that all the Grand Khans, and all 
the descendants of Jenghiz their first Lord, are carried 
to a mountain that is called Altay to be interred. Where- 
soever the Sovereign may die, he is carried to his burial 
in that mountain with his predecessors; no matter, an 
the place of his death were one hundred days' journey 
distant, thither must he be carried to his burial. 

Let me tell you a strange thing too. When they are 
carrying the body of any Emperor to be buried with the 
others, the convoy that goes with the body doth put to 
death all whom they fall in with on the road, saying: 
" Go and wait upon your Lord in the other world ! " For 
they do truly believe that all such as they slay in this 
manner do go to serve their Lord in the other world. 
They do the same too with horses ; for when the Emperor 
dies, they kill all his best horses, in order that he may 
have the use of them in the other world, as they believe. 
And I tell you as a certain truth, that when Mongu Khan 
died (in China) more than twenty thousand persons, who 
chanced to meet the body on its way, were slain in the 
manner I have told.* 

* Part of this story is true. Horses were slain for the horse- 
man to ride in another world, and perhaps slaves were slain. 



80 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Now that we have begun to speak of the Tartars, I 
have plenty to tell you on that subject. The Tartar cus- 
tom is to spend the winter in warm plains, where they 
find good pasture for their cattle, while in summer they 
betake themselves to a cool climate among the mountains 
and valleys, where water is to be found as well as woods 
and pastures. 

Their houses are circular, and are made of wands cov- 
ered with felts. These are carried along with them 
whithersoever they go; for the wands are so strongly 
bound together, and likewise so well combined, that the 
frame can be made very light. Whenever they erect these 
huts the door is always to the south. They also have 
wagons covered with black felt so that no rain can get in. 

These are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women 
and children travel in them. The women do the buying 
and selling, and whatever is necessary to provide for the 
husband and household; for the men trouble themselves 
about nothing but hunting and hawking, and looking 
after their hawks and falcons, unless it be the practice 
of warlike exercises. 

They live on the milk and meat which their herds 
supply, and on the produce of the chase; and they eat 
all kinds of flesh, including that of horses and dogs. 

The clothes of the wealthy Tartars are, for the most 
part, of gold and silk stuffs, lined with costly furs, in the 
richest fashion. 

Concerning the Tartar Customs of War 

All their armor is excellent and costly. Their arms 
are bows and arrows, sword and mace; but above all the 

But the people on the road were killed so that they should not 
tell that the khan was dead. His followers wished to keep his 
death a secret for the time. 



CONCERNING THE TARTAR CUSTOMS OF WAR 81 

bow, for they are capital archers, indeed the best that 
are known. On their backs they wear armor made of 
leather that has been boiled, which is very strong. They 
are excellent soldiers, and exceeding valiant in battle. 

They are also more capable of hardships than other 
nations; for many a time, if need be, they will go for 
a month without any supply of food, except milk, and 
such game as their bows may win them. Their horses 
also will subsist entirely on the grass of the plains, so 
that there is no need to carry store of barley or straw 
or oats; and they are very docile to their riders. 

Of all troops in the world these are they which endure 
the greatest hardship and fatigue, and which cost the 
least; and they are the best of all for making wide con- 
quests of country. And this you will perceive from what 
you have heard and shall hear in this book; and as a 
fact there can be no manner of doubt that now they 
are the masters of the biggest half of the world. Their 
troops are admirably ordered in the manner that I shall 
now relate. 

You see, when a Tartar prince goes forth to war, he 
takes with him, say, one hundred thousand horsemen. 
Well, he appoints an officer to every ten men, one to every 
hundred, one to every thousand, and one to every ten thou- 
sand, so that his own orders have to be given to ten per- 
sons only, and each of these ten persons has to pass the 
orders only to other ten, and so on ; no one having to give 
orders to more than ten. And every one in turn is re- 
sponsible only to the officer immediately over him; and 
the discipline and order that comes of this method is mar- 
velous, for they are a people very obedient to their chiefs. 

When the army is on the march, they have always 
two hundred horsemen, very well mounted, who are sent 
a distance of two marches in advance to reconnoiter, and 
these always keep ahead. They have a similar party in 



82 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

the rear, and on either flank, so that there is a good look- 
out kept on all sides against a surprise. 

When they are going on a distant expedition, they 
take no gear with them except two leather bottles for 
milk, a little earthenware pot to cook their meat in, and 
a little tent to shelter them from rain. And in case of 
great urgency they will ride ten days without lighting 
a fire or taking a meal. 

They also have milk dried into a kind of paste to carry 
with them; and when they need food they put this into 
water, and beat it up till it dissolves, and then drink it. 
It is prepared in this way: they boil the milk, and when 
the rich part floats on the top they skim it into another 
vessel, and of that they make butter. 

Then they put the milk into the sun to dry. And 
when they go on an expedition, every man takes some 
ten pounds of this dried milk with him. And of a morn- 
ing he will take a half-pound of it and put it in his leather 
bottle, with as much water as he pleases. So, as he rides 
along, the milk-paste and the water in the bottle get well 
churned together into a kind of pap, and that makes his 
dinner. 

When they come to an engagement with the enemy, 
they will gain the victory in this fashion. They never let 
themselves get into a regular battle, but keep perpetually 
riding round and shooting arrows into the enemy. And 
as they do not count it any shame to run away in battle, 
they will sometimes pretend to do so, and in running 
away they turn in the saddle and shoot hard and strong 
at the foe, and in this way make great havoc. 

Their horses are trained so perfectly that they will 
double hither and thither, just like a dog, in a way that 
is quite astonishing. Thus they fight in running away 
as well as if they stood and faced the enemy, because 
of the vast volleys of arrows that they shoot in this way, 



ADMINISTERING JUSTICE TO THE TARTARS 83 

turning round upon their pursuers, who are fancying that 
they have won the battle. 

But when the Tartars see that they have killed and 
wounded a good many horses and men, they wheel round 
bodily, and return to the charge in perfect order and 
with loud cries; and in a very short time the enemy are 
routed. In truth, they are stout and valiant soldiers, and 
inured to war. 

And you perceive that it is just when the enemy sees 
them run, and imagines that he has gained the battle, 
that he has in reality lost it; for the Tartars wheel round 
in a moment when they judge the right time has come. 
And after this fashion they have won many a fight. 

All this that I have been telling you is true of the 
manners and customs of the genuine Tartars. But I must 
add also that in these days they are greatly changed; 
for those who are settled in Cathay (China) have taken 
up the practices of the Idolaters of the country, and have 
abandoned their own manners; while those who have set- 
tled in the Levant have adopted the customs of the 
Saracens. 

concerning the administering of justice among 
the Tartars 

The way they administer justice is this. When any 
one has committed a petty theft, they give him, under 
the orders of authority, seven blows of a stick, or seven- 
teen, or twenty-seven, or thirty-seven, or forty-seven, and 
so forth, always increasing by tens in proportion to the 
injury done, and running up to one hundred and seven. 
Of these beatings sometimes they die. 

But if the offense be horse-stealing, or some other 
great matter, they cut the thief in two with a sword. 
Howbeit, if he be able to ransom himself by paying nine 



THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA 85 

times the value of the thing stolen, he is let off. Every 
Lord or other person who possesses beasts has them 
marked with his peculiar brand, be they horses, mares, 
camels, oxen, cows, or other great cattle, and then they 
are sent abroad to graze over the plains without any 
keeper. They get all mixed together, but eventually 
every beast is recovered by means of its owner's brand, 
which is known. For their sheep and goats they have 
shepherds. All their cattle are remarkably fine, big, and 
in good condition. 

Now I have told you all about the manners and cus- 
toms of the Tartars, but you have heard nothing yet of 
the great magnificence of the Grand Khan, who is the 
Lord of all the Tartars, nor of the supreme imperial 
court. All that I will tell you in its proper time and 
place. 

The Great Wall of China 

It is a little strange that Marco does not mention 
the great wall of China while in his description of 
" the marvels of the East." He certainly knew all 
about it. 

Several hundred years before the Christian era 
the wild tribes of Mongolia used to make raids into 
China and harry the country. One of the great Chi- 
nese emperors determined to put a stop to these raids 
by building a huge wall all along the northern bound- 
ary of his country. You can find it on any good 
map of China. It begins northeast of Peking (longi- 
tude 119° east) and runs over mountains and valleys 
westward (to longitude 103° east), and there are sev- 
eral loops of it, enclosing various provinces. The 
picture shows what it looks like. The founda- 
tions are usually made of granite blocks, the wall of 



86 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

bricks. It is about twenty-five feet thick at the base 
and fifteen feet at the top, and from fifteen to thirty 
feet high. Every now and then there are towers. 
Such a wall as this was quite sufficient to keep out 
the Tartar horsemen, especially when it was lined 
with Chinese soldiers with bows and arrows and with 
pots of boiling pitch to pour on an enemy's head. 
This amazing rampart stretches all along the bound- 
ary for fifteen hundred miles! Think of building a 
wall like that from Winnipeg, in Manitoba, to Gal- 
veston, in Texas! The length would be about the 
same. The Chinese Empire 2100 years ago took 
this way of shutting out its enemies, and it has lived 
inside its wall ever since. 



CHAPTEK VI 

Of the province of Shang-tu, in China, and of the Great Khan's 
palace there — Coleridge's poem — Concerning the Great Khan 
(Kublai Khan) and his great power — Of the city of Peking (Cani- 
baluc) — The king's great palace — Concerning the twelve barons 
who are set over all the affairs of the Great Khan — How the 
Khan's posts and runners are sped through many lands and 
provinces — How the Great Khan causes trees to be planted by 
the highways — How the Great Khan causes stores of grain to be 
made to help his people withal in time of scarcity — Of the char- 
ity of the Emperor to the poor — Concerning the religion of the 
Chinese — Their views as to the soul — Their customs. 

Of the Province of Shang-tu, in China, and of 
the Great Khan's Palace there 

After all these wanderings, not the half of which 
have been told, the young Marco, with his father 
and uncle, finally arrive at the court of the Khan, 
three years and a half after they had left Venice. 
They were well received; evidently the Khan 
thought very highly of the Polos. In this country 
of Cathay (China) Marco spent more than twenty 
years as a high officer of the Khan's court, trusted 
and honored. 

And when you have ridden three days you come to 
a city called Shang-tu, which was built by the Khan 
now reigning. There is at the place a very fine marble 
8 87 



88 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

palace, the rooms of which are all gilt, and painted with 
figures of men and beasts and birds, and with a variety 
of trees and flowers, all executed with such exquisite art 
that you regard them with delight and astonishment. 

Round this palace a wall is built, enclosing a compass 
of sixteen miles, and inside the park there are fountains 
and rivers and brooks and beautiful meadows, with all 
kinds of wild animals (excluding such as are of fero- 
cious nature), which the Emperor has procured and placed 
there to supply food for his falcons and hawks, which 
he keeps here in mew. Of these there are more than two 
hundred falcons alone, without reckoning the other 
hawks. 

The Khan himself goes every week to see his birds, 
and sometimes he rides through the park with a leopard 
behind him on his horse's croup; and then if he sees any 
animal that takes his fancy, he slips his ileopard at it, 
and the game when taken is made over to feed the hawks. 
This he does for diversion. 

Moreover, at a spot in the park where there is a charm- 
ing wood, he has another palace built of bamboo, of which 
I must give you a description. It is gilt all over, and 
most elaborately finished inside. It stands on gilt and 
lacquered columns, on each side of which is a dragon all 
gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column, while the 
head supports the architrave. 

The roof, like the rest, is formed of bamboos, covered 
with a varnish so strong and excellent that no amount 
of rain will rot them. These bamboos are a good three 
palms in girth, and from ten to fifteen paces in length. 
In short, the whole palace is built of these bamboos, which 
serve also for a great variety of other useful purposes. 
The construction of the palace is so devised that it can 
be taken down and put up again with great celerity; and 
it can all be taken to pieces and removed whithersoever 



PROVINCE OP SHANG-TU, IN CHINA 



89 



the Emperor may command. When erected, it is braced 
against mishaps from the wind by more than two hundred 
cords of silk. 

The Lord abides at this park of his, dwelling some- 
times in the marble palace and sometimes in the cane 
palace for three months of the year, to wit, June, July, 
and August, preferring this residence because it is by no 
means hot; in fact, it is a very cool place. 




A Chinese pavilion built of bamboo. 



When the 28th day of the August moon arrives he 
takes his departure, and the cane palace is taken to 
pieces. After this is done the Emperor is off and away. 
You must know that the Khan keeps an immense stud of 
white horses and mares ; in fact, more than ten thousand 
of them, and all pure white without a speck. 



90 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Coleridge, the English poet, fell asleep while he 
was reading Marco Polo's story and dreamed the 
poem beginning: 

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan 

A stately pleasure-dome decree, 
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran, 
Through caverns measureless to man, 

Down to a sunless sea. 
So twice jive miles of fertile ground 
With walls and towers were girdled round ; 
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, 

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; 
And here were forests, ancient as the hills, 

Enfolding spots of sunny greenery. 

Concerning the Grand Khan now reigning, and 
his Great Power 

Now am I come to the part of our book in which I 
shall tell you of the great and wonderful magnificence 
of the Great Khan now reigning, by name Kublai Khan; 
Khan being a title which signifieth " The Great Lord of 
Lords," or Emperor. And of a surety he hath good right 
to such a title, for all men know for a certain truth that 
he is the most powerful man, as regards forces and lands 
and treasure, that existeth in the world, or ever hath 
existed from the time of our Eirst Father Adam until 
this day. All this I will make clear to you for truth, 
in this book of ours, so that every one shall be fain to 
acknowledge that he is the greatest Lord that is now in 
the world, or ever hath been. 

Now this Kublai Khan is of the right Imperial line- 
age, being descended from Jenghiz Khan, the first sover- 
eign of all the Tartars. And he is the fifth Lord in suc- 
cession, as I have already told you in this book. He 



OF THE CITY OF PEKING 91 

came to the throne in the year 1269, and the Empire fell 
to him because of his ability and valor and great worth, 
as was right and reason. His brothers, indeed, and other 
kinsmen disputed his claim, but his it remained, both 
because maintained by his great valor, and because it was 
in law and right his, as being directly sprung of the 
Imperial line. 

Up to the year now running, to wit, 1298, he hath 
reigned two-and-forty years, and his age is about eighty- 
five, so that he must have been about forty-three years 
of age when he first came to the throne. Before that 
time he had often been to the wars, and had shown him- 
self a gallant soldier and an excellent captain. 

Of the City of Peking 

You must know that for three months in the year, 
to wit, December, January, and February, the Great 
Khan resides in the capital city of Cathay (China), which 
is called Cambaluc (Peking), and which is at the north- 
eastern extremity of the country. In that city stands 
his great palace, and now I will tell you what it is like. 

It is enclosed all round by a great wall forming a 
square, each side of which is a mile in length; that is 
to say, the whole compass thereof is four miles. It is also 
very thick and a good ten paces in height, whitewashed 
and loopholed all round. At each angle of the wall there 
is a very fine and rich palace in which the war-harness 
of the Emperor is kept, such as bows and quivers, saddles 
and bridles, and bowstrings, and everything needful for 
an army. 

Also midway between every two of these corner palaces 
there is another of the like, so- that taking the whole 
compass of the enclosure you find eight vast palaces 
stored with the Great King's harness of war. And you 



92 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



must "understand that each palace is assigned to only one 
kind of article; thus, one is stored with bows, a second 
with saddles, a third with bridles, and so on in succession 
right round. 

The great wall has five gates on its southern face, the 
middle one being the great gate, which is never opened 
on any occasion except when the Great Khan himself 







"mmm. jp$ ,. 



A part of the wall of Peking. 

goes forth or enters. Close on either side of this great 
gate is a smaller one by which all other people pass; and 
then toward each angle is another great gate, also open 
to people in general; so that on that side there are five 
gates in all. 

Inside of this wall there is a second, enclosing a space 
that is somewhat greater in length than in breadth. This 
enclosure also has eight palaces corresponding to those of 
the outer wall, and stored like them with the King's har- 
ness of war. This wall also hath five gates. In the mid- 
dle of the second enclosure is the King's Great Palace, 
and I will tell you what it is like. 



THE KING'S GREAT PALACE 93 



The King's Great Palace 

You must know that it is the greatest Palace that 
ever was. The roof is very lofty, and the walls of the 
Palace are all covered with gold and silver. They are 
also adorned with representations of dragons, sculptured 
and gilt, beasts and birds, knights and idols, and sundry 
other subjects. And on the ceiling, too, you see nothing 
but gold and silver and painting. On each of the four 
sides there is a great marble staircase. 

The Hall of the Palace is so large that it could easily 
dine six thousand people; and it is quite a marvel to see 
how many rooms there are besides. The building is alto- 
gether so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on 
earth could design anything superior to it. The outside 
of the roof also is all colored with vermilion and yellow 
and green and blue and other hues, which are fixed with 
a varnish so fine and exquisite that they shine like crystal, 
and lend a resplendent luster to the Palace as seen for 
a great way round. This roof is made, too, with such 
strength and solidity that it is fit to last forever. 

On the interior side of the Palace are large buildings 
with halls and chambers, where the Emperor's private 
property is placed, such as his treasures of gold, silver, 
gems, pearls, and gold plate, and in which reside the 
ladies of the Court. 

Between the two walls of the enclosure which I have 
described there are fine parks and beautiful trees bearing 
a variety of fruits. There are beasts also of sundry kinds, 
such as white stags and fallow deer, gazelles and roebucks, 
and fine squirrels of various sorts, and all manner of other 
beautiful creatures, insomuch that the whole place is full 
of them. The parks are covered with abundant grass; 
and the roads through them being all paved and raised 



94 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



two cubits above the surface, they never become muddy, 
nor does the rain lodge on them, but flows off into the 




The five-story pagoda at Canton as it looks to-day. Pagodas 
came into China with the Boodhists about eighteen hundred 
years ago. 

meadows, quickening the soil and producing that abun- 
dance of herbage.* 



* It is worth while to remember that the streets of London 
were not paved till about 1530. Marco Polo's story of the grass 



THE KING'S GREAT PALACE 95 

Then there is a fine lake, containing fish of different 
kinds, which the Emperor hath caused to be put in there, 
so that he can have them at his pleasure. A river enters 
this lake and issues from it, but there is a grating of iron 
or brass put up so that the fish can not escape. 

Moreover, on the north side of the Palace, about a 
bow-shot off, there is a hill which has been made by art 
from the earth dug out of the lake. This hill is entirely 
covered with trees that never lose their leaves, but remain 
ever green. And I assure you that wherever a beautiful 
tree may exist, and the Emperor gets news of it, he sends 
for it, and has it transported bodily with all its roots 
and the earth attached to them, and planted on that hill 
of his. 

No matter how big the tree may be, he gets it carried 
by his elephants ; and in this way he has got together the 
most beautiful collection of trees in all the world. And 
he has also caused the whole hill to be covered with the 
ore of azure, which is very green. And thus not only are 
the trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise ; 
and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green; 
and hence it is called the Green Mount; and in truth 
'tis named well. 

On the top of the hill again there is a fine big palace 
which is all green inside and out; and thus the hill, and 
the trees, and the palace form together a charming spec- 
recalls an incident worth relating. Kublai Khan, yon know, was 
not only Emperor of China, but Lord of all the Tartars. The 
ancient capital of the Tartar kingdom was Karakoram (see the 
map, page 5). He finally decided to move the capital to Peking 
and to become, as it were, a Chinese rather than a Tartar. When 
he had made up his mind to do this he sent for some grass from 
the plains of Tartary — just the common grass of Mongolia — and 
planted it in a field at Peking so that he and his officers could 
every now and then look upon it and remember their old home. 



96 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

tacle; and it is marvelous to see their color! Everybody 
who sees them is delighted. And the Great Khan has 
caused this beautiful prospect to be formed for the com- 
fort and solace and delectation (delight) of his heart. 

You must know that beside the Palace that we have 
been describing, i. e., the Great Palace, the Emperor has 
caused another to be built just like his own in every 
respect, and this he hath done for his son when he shall 
reign and be Emperor after him. 

JSTow I am going to tell you of the Chief City of 
Cathay, in which these Palaces stand; and why it was 
built, and how. 

Concerning the City of Cambaluc (Peking) 

Now there was on that spot in old times a great and 
noble city called Cambaluc, which is as much as to say 
in our tongue " The City of the Emperor." But the 
Great Khan was informed by his astrologers that this 
city would prove rebellious against his imperial authority. 
So he caused the present city to be built close beside the 
old one, with only a river between them. 

As regards the size of this new city, you must know 
that it has a compass of twenty-four miles, for each side 
of it hath a length of six miles, and it is four-square. 
And it is all walled round with walls of earth, which 
have a thickness of full ten paces at the bottom, and a 
height of more than ten paces; but they are not so thick 
at the top, for they diminish in thickness as they rise, 
so at top they are only about three paces thick. And 
they are provided throughout with loopholed battlements, 
which are all whitewashed. 

The streets are so straight and wide that you can see 

V right along them from end to end and from one gate to 

the other. And up and down the city there are beautiful 



.:i:i-S'iV? ; r 






The flower pagoda at Canton. 



98 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

places and many and fine hostelries (inns, hotels), and 
fine houses in great numbers. All the plots of ground 
on which the houses of the city are built are four-square 
and laid out in straight lines, and occupied by great 
and spacious palaces, with courts and gardens. All these 
plots are assigned to different heads of families. And 
thus the whole city is arranged in squares just like a 
chess-board, and disposed in a manner so perfect and 
masterly that it is impossible to give a description that 
should do it justice. 

Moreover, in the middle of the city there is a great 
clock — that is to say, a bell, which is struck at night. 
And after it has struck three times no one must go out 
in the city, unless it be for the needs of the sick. 

And those who go about on such errands are bound 
to carry lanterns with them. Moreover, the established 
guard at each gate of the city is one thousand armed 
men; not that you are to imagine this guard is kept up 
for fear of any attack, but only as a guard of honor for 
the Sovereign, who resides there, and to prevent thieves 
from doing mischief in the town. 

Concerning the Twelve Barons who are set 

OVER ALL THE AFFAIRS OF THE GREAT KhAN 

You must know that the Great Khan hath chosen 
twelve great Barons, to whom he hath committed all the 
necessary affairs of thirty-four great provinces; and now 
I will tell you particulars about them. 

You must know that these twelve Barons reside all 
together in a very rich and handsome palace, which is 
inside the city of Cambaluc. To every province is as- 
signed a judge and several clerks, and all reside in this 
palace, where each one has his separate quarters. These 
judges and clerks administer all the affairs of the prov- 



HOW THE MESSENGERS TRAVEL 99 

inces to which they are attached, under the direction of 
the twelve Barons. Howbeit, when an affair is of very 
great importance, the twelve Barons lay it before the Em- 
peror, and he decides as he thinks best. But the power 
of those twelve Barons is so great that they choose the 
governors for all those thirty-four great provinces that I 
have mentioned, and only after they have chosen do they 
inform the Emperor of their choice. This he confirms, 
and grants to the person nominated a tablet of gold such 
as is appropriate to the rank of his government. 

These twelve Barons also have such authority that 
they can dispose of the movements of the army, and send 
them whither, and in such strength as, they please. This 
is done indeed with the Emperor's knowledge, but still 
the orders are issued on their authority. They are styled 
" The Supreme Court." This body forms the highest 
authority at the Court of the Great Khan; and indeed 
they can favor and advance whom they will. 

How the Khan's Posts a^d Runners are sped 
through Many Lands and Provinces 

JNTow you must know that from this city of Cambaluc 
proceed many roads and highways leading to a variety of 
provinces, one to one province, another to another; and 
each road receives the name of the province to which it 
leads ; and it is a very sensible plan. And the messengers 
of the Emperor in traveling from Cambaluc, be the road 
whichsoever they will, find at every twenty-five miles of 
the journey a station. 

And at each of those stations used by the messengers 
there is a large and handsome building for them, in which 
they find all the rooms furnished with fine beds and all 
other necessary articles in rich silk, and where they are 
provided with everything they can want. If even a king 
L.ofC. 



100 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

were to arrive at one of these, he would find himself well 
lodged. 

At some of these stations, moreover, there are posted 
some four hundred horses standing ready for the use of 
the messengers; at others there are two hundred, accord- 
ing to the requirements, and to what the Emperor has 
established in each case. At every twenty-five miles, as 
I said, or anyhow at every thirty miles, you find one of 
these stations, on all the principal highways. 

Even when the messengers have to pass through a 
roadless tract where no house exists, still there the station- 
houses have been established just the same, excepting that 
the intervals are somewhat greater, and the day's journey 
is fixed at thirty-five to forty-five miles, instead of twenty- 
five to thirty. But they are provided with horses and all 
the other necessaries just like those we have described, 
so that the Emperor's messengers, come they from what 
region they may, find everything ready for them. 

And in sooth this is a thing done on the greatest scale 
of magnificence that ever was seen. Never had emperor, 
king, or lord such wealth as this manifests! For it is a 
fact that on all these posts taken together there are more 
than three hundred thousand horses kept, specially for 
the use of the messengers. And the great buildings that 
I have mentioned are more than ten thousand in number, 
all richly furnished as I have told you. The thing is on a 
scale so costly and wonderful that it is hard to bring one- 
selfjo describe it. 

/^ But now I will tell you of another thing that I had 
forgotten, but which ought to be told while I am on this 
subject. You must know that by the Great- Khan's orders 
there has been established between those post-houses at 
every interval of ^ three miles a little fort with some forty 
houses round about it, in which dwell the people who act 
as the Emperor's foot-runners. 



HOW THE MESSENGERS TRAVEL 101 

Every one of those runners wears a great wide belt, 
set all over with bells, so that as they run their bells are 
heard jingling a long way off. And thus on reaching the 
post the runner finds another man all ready to take his 
place, who instantly takes whatsoever he has in charge, 
and with it receives a slip of paper from the clerk who is 
always on hand for the purpose; and so the new man 
sets off and runs his three miles. 

At the next station he finds his relief ready in like 
manner; and so the post proceeds, with a change at every 
three miles. And in this way the Emperor, who has an 
immense number of these runners, receives despatches 
with news from places ten days' journey off in one day 
and night; or, if need be, news from a hundred days' off 
in ten days and nights; and that is no small matter! 

In fact, in the fruit season many a time fruit is gath- 
ered one morning in Cambaluc, and in the evening of 
the next day it reaches the Great Khan at Shang-tu, a 
distance of ten days' journey. 

Moreover, there are also at those stations other men 
equipped similarly with girdles hung with bells, who are 
employed for expresses when there is call for great haste 
in sending despatches to any governor of a province, or to 
give news when any baron has revolted, or in other such 
emergencies; and these men travel a good two hundred 
or three hundred miles in the day, and as much in the 
night. 

I'll tell you how it stands. They take a horse from 
those at the station which are standing ready saddled, all 
fresh, and mount and go at full speed, as hard as they 
can ride, in fact. And when those at the next post hear 
the bells, they get ready another horse and a man equipped 
in the same way, and he takes the letter or whatever it 
be, and is off full speed to the third station, where again 
a fresh horse is found all ready, and so the despatch 



102 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

speeds along from post to post, always at full gallop with 
regular change of horses. 

And the speed at which they go is marvelous. By 
night, however, they can not go as fast as by day, because 
they have to be accompanied by footmen with torches, who 
could not keep up with them at full speed. 

Those men are highly prized. And each of them car- 
ries with him a tablet, in sign that he is bound on an 
urgent errand ; so that if perchance his horse break down, 
or he meet with other mishap, whomsoever he may fall 
in with on the road, he is empowered to make him dis- 
mount and give up his horse. Nobody dares refuse in 
such a case; so that the courier hath always a good fresh 
nag to carry him. 

How the Great Khan causes Trees to be planted 
by the Highways 

The Emperor hath ordered that all the highways 
should be planted with great trees a few paces apart. 
Even the roads through uninhabited tracts are thus 
planted, and it is the greatest possible solace to travelers. 

How the Great Khan causes Stores of Grain to 
be collected, to help his people withal in 
Time of Scarcity 

You must know that when the Emperor sees that 
grain is cheap and abundant he buys up large quantities, 
and has it stored in all his provinces and great granaries, 
where it is so well looked after that it will keep for three 
or four years. 

And this applies, let me tell you, to all kinds of 
grain, whether wheat, barley, rice, or what not ; and when 
there is any scarcity of a particular kind of grain he 



THE EMPEROR'S CHARITY TO THE POOR 103 

causes that to be issued. And he lets the people have it 
at whatever price will produce general cheapness; and 
every one can have food in this way. And by this care 
of the Emperor's his people can never suffer from famine. 
He does the same over his whole Empire, causing these 
supplies to be stored everywhere according to the wants 
and necessities of the people. 

Of the Charity of the Emperor to the Poor 

I have told you how the Great Khan provides for the 
distribution of necessaries to his people in time of scarcity 
by making store in time of cheapness. JSTow I will tell 
you of his great charity to the poor of his city of Cam- 
baluc. 

You see he causes selection to be made of a number of 
poor families in the city. And each family he causes to 
be supplied with wheat and other corn sufficient for the 
whole year. And this he never fails to do every year. 

Moreover, all those who choose to go to the Court 
receive a great loaf apiece hot from the baking, and no- 
body is denied; for so the Lord hath ordered. And so 
some thirty thousand people go for it every day from 
year's end to year's end. ISTow this is a great goodness in 
the Emperor to take pity of his poor people thus! And 
they benefit so much by it that they worship him as he 
were God. 

He also provides the poor with clothes. For he takes 
a tenth part of all wool, silk, hemp, and the like that is 
made; and he has these woven and laid in a building set 
apart for the purpose; and the Khan has these stuffs made 
into clothing for poor families, suitable for summer or 
winter, according to the time of year. 

He also provides the clothing for his troops, and has 
woolens woven for them in every city, the material for 
9 



104 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

which is furnished by the tax of one-tenth part aforesaid. 
You should know that the Tartars, before they were con- 
verted to the religion of the Idolaters, never practised 
almsgiving. But the sages of the Boodhists told the Great 
Khan that it was a good work to provide for the poor, and 
that his idols would be greatly pleased if he did so. And 
since then he has undertaken to do for the poor so much as 
you have heard. 

Concerning the Religion of the Cathayans (Chi- 
nese *), their Views as to the Soul, and their 
Customs 

As we have said before, these people are Boodhists, 
and each one has a tablet fixed high up on the wall of 
his chamber on which is inscribed a name that represents 
the Most High and Heavenly God; and before this they 
pay daily worship. 

They believe that as soon as a man dies his soul 
enters into another body, going from a good to a better, 
or from a bad to a worse, according as he hath conducted 
himself well or ill. That is to say, a poor man, if he have 
passed through life good and sober, shall be born again 
a gentleman; and on a second occasion shall be born a 
prince, and so on, always rising, till he be absorbed into 
the Deity. But if he have behaved ill, he who was the 
son of a gentleman shall be reborn as the son of a peasant, 
and from a peasant shall become a dog, always going down 
lower and lower. 

The people have an ornate style of speech; they salute 
each other with a cheerful countenance, and with great 

* Marco Polo is here describing the Chinese people, not the 
Tartars. The Tartars became like them in time ; but the Chi- 
nese were civilized for many centuries before the Tartars con- 
quered them. 



THE RELIGION OF THE CATHAY ANS 105 

politeness ; they behave like gentlemen, and eat with great 
propriety. They show great respect to their parents; and 
should there be any son who offends his parents, or fails 
to minister to their necessities, there is a public office 
which has no other charge but that of punishing children 
who have acted with ingratitude toward their parents. 

The natives are of a peaceful character, both from 
education and from the example of their kings, whose 
disposition was the same. They know nothing of hand- 
ling warlike weapons, and keep none in their houses. You 
hear no noisy quarrels or discussions of any kind among 
them. 

Both in their commercial dealings and in their manu- 
factures they are thoroughly honest and truthful, and 
there is such a degree of good-will and neighborly attach- 
ment among them that you would take the people who 
live in one street to be all one family. They treat the 
foreigners w T ho visit them for the sake of trade with great 
cordiality, and afford them every help and advice in their 
business. But, on the other hand, they hate soldiers, and 
not least those of the Great Khan's garrisons, regarding 
them as the cause of their having lost their native kings 
and lords. 



CHAPTEE VII 

The Chinese nation — Some account of the civilization of the 
Chinese — Confucius the Sage — Why we do not want the Chinese 
in America. 

You have now heard a part, though only a part, 
of what Marco Polo has to say about the Grand 
Khan, about his magnificent palaces, the way in 
which his kingdom is governed, his care for his people 
in times of famine, his charity to the poor. Sup- 
pose you should write down an account of the way 
our own country is governed. Would you not find 
some things as well done in China in the thirteenth 
century as in America nowadays? Marco Polo evi- 
dently thought that China was at least as well gov- 
erned as Venice. Stop a moment, and think of it. 
There was no kingdom in Europe at that time where 
the monarch Avas more intelligent and kind, the cities 
more safe and prosperous, the people more content 
and happy. Yet this emperor was the grandson of 
a ferocious cutthroat. The Mongols and Tartars 
that first came into China were mere robbers. 

How had they become civilized so quickly? The 
answer is that they had conquered a nation — the 
Chinese — who had been civilized (in their way) for 
centuries. The Tartars learned from them just as 
the conquering Arabs learned from the more civil- 
ized Persians, just as the rude Romans learned from 
106 



CIVILIZATION OF THE CHINESE 107 

the conquered Greeks, just as the red Indians would 
learn from us if they were our masters, and ruled 
in New York and Boston and Washington. 

Some Account of the Civilization of the Chinese 

Marco Polo tells us about the Tartars who were 
the rulers of China in his time. They conquered the 
country about a. d. 1275, but for thousands of years 
before that time the Chinese had been a prosperous, 
happy, and contented people. The Chinese have a 
written history going back to 2400 b. c, more than 
four thousand years ago. While the Tartars were 
mere savages, herding their cattle on the steppes, the 
Chinese were a civilized nation. For instance, the 
Chinese invented paper in the first century, and had 
printed books soon afterward. There were no printed 
books in Europe till 1438. The mariner's compass 
was used in China at sea at least as early as 300 a. d. 
It was not known in Europe till a. d. 1302. What 
we call civil-service examinations (that is, choosing 
public officers by examinations to test their fitness) 
were not held in England until about fifty years ago, 
nor in the United States till about thirty years ago; 
but China has chosen its public officers in this way 
for thirteen hundred years. 

China has been a nation for four thousand years 
at least; that is, it has been one people under one 
government. Since 221 b. c. they have had an em- 
peror. This nation of hundreds of millions of peo- 
ple * lived peacefully in its quarter of the world. 

* About 300,000,000 inhabitants in 1902 ; more than three 
times as many as in our country. 



108 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

It was troubled sometimes by the Tartars, but the 
great wall kept them out from the time it was built 
(200 b. c.) till the ninth century. 

The country was separated from Europe and the 
nearer East (Persia, Arabia, etc.) by vast distances, 
and it grew up by itself. England is near to France, 
and in many ways it is like France. It has French 
words in its language, French pictures in its houses, 
French books, French cookery, French fashions. 
But China had no foreign words, pictures, or cus- 
toms. It was like itself and like no other country 
for thousands of years. 

Confucius the Sage 

Confucius (Kon-fu '-shins), the wisest man of 
China, and one of the great men of the world, was 
born 551 years b. c, and died 479 b. c. He was what 
we call a philosopher, a man who loved wisdom. 
He was the Chinese Solomon, if you please. He 
thought about such questions as these : What is right 
action ? What is wrong ? Why is such a thing right ? 
Why is such another thing wrong? What rules 
should a man follow in everything that he does? 
Here is a rule that he made twenty-five hundred 
years ago : " What ye would that men should not do 
to you, do not that to them." Leave out the " not " 
in this saying of his and we have the Golden Rule 
of Christ: " What ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye also unto them" We must remember, though, 
that when Confucius said " men " he meant China- 
men and no others. When Christ said " men/' he 



CONFUCIUS THE SAGE 109 

meant all men — Europeans, Africans, Asiatics, men 
of every nation. 

" Do not be ashamed of mistakes and thus make 
them crimes," was another saying of his. Con- 
fucius left many such sayings as this, and his 
friends and pupils gathered them into books and 
made a kind of religion out of his teachings. Con- 
fucius never pretended to be anything more than a 
man — he never claimed to be divine — but he said 
he knew what was right, and he taught the right way 
to others. Another of his sayings was : " Walk in the 
trodden paths." He meant by this: Do what your 
fathers did — think as they thought. This is good in 
its way, but it does not cover the whole ground. It 
cuts out all improvement if it is too strictly carried 
out. The Chinese were improving fast in his time, 
but this maxim helped to stop them, and by and by 
they stood still. They have improved very little in 
the last thousand years. His teachings have been 
the religion of China for twenty-five centuries, and 
every educated man in China knows them by heart 
to-day. Confucius did not say that the teachings of 
other wise men might not be true also. And so one 
of the Chinese emperors, who thought that some of 
the Boodhist doctrines were true, invited Boodhist 
priests to come to China and teach them to his people 
in the first century a. d. That is the way Boodhism 
came into China. Marco Polo has told us about it 
(page 65). 

Confucius thought it very important that every 
one should be educated, and every Chinaman has had 
the same opinion for thousands of years. In fact, 



110 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

the Chinese word which means " public officer " 
means also " educated man." Their very language 
implies that only educated men can possibly be offi- 
cials. All over China, in the poorest villages as well 
as in towns, there are schools, and all the boys are 
sent there to be taught the sayings of Confucius. 
The girls are not taught unless they are the daugh- 
ters of rich people, when they often have teachers 
at home. Nine out of every ten men in China can 
read and write and cipher. 

If you will look at a set of Chinese plates some 
day you will be sure to find one with five bats on it. 
Now the Chinese word that means " bat " also means 
" reverence. 7 ' These five bats stand for the five 
things every one ought to respect, to reverence. The 
first is the Emperor, the second is one's parents, the 
third is one's teacher. Every Chinese is taught to 
respect knowledge and the people who give it to 
him. 

Every province has a kind of college, where boys 
are examined in their studies. Hundreds of thou- 
sands of young men pass this first examination and 
become, as we should say, college graduates — Bach- 
elors of Arts. There are higher examinations, too, 
for the Bachelors, who become, as we should say, 
Doctors of Law. Every doctor is sure of some gov- 
ernment office, and there are no Chinese judges, 
mayors, governors, and so forth, who are not schol- 
ars. Some of the Tartars reach high office even 
to-day because they are soldiers; but every Chinese 
must be a scholar. 

The written language of the Chinese goes back 



CONFUCIUS THE SAGE 111 

to 3400 b. c, and they have had books for more than 
three thousand years. 

It will show you what a learned people they were 
to say that twenty-one hundred years ago the edu- 
cated people of China were such a power that one 
of the emperors began to be afraid of them. So he 
ordered (200 b. c.) all the books (manuscripts) in the 
kingdom to be destroyed, hoping to get rid of knowl- 
edge in that way, and so to be free to do what he 
liked without criticism. 

As the Chinese were a thousand years ago so 
are they now. The common people are honest, very 
intelligent in their way, industrious, frugal, devoted 
to their parents, their wives, their children. In the 
great seaports, their contact with Europeans has not 
helped them. They have learned most of our vices 
and few of our virtues. There are three hundred 
million people in the empire, and comparatively few 
in the seaports. The mass are, indeed, honest, intelli- 
gent, industrious, frugal, good sons, good husbands, 
and good fathers. They behaved very badly in the 
Chinese war of 1900, but not half so badly as many 
of the European soldiers who ought to have done 
better. 

If there is a Chinaman in your town, try this ex- 
periment some time. Get him to multiply 672 by 
414, or any three figures by three figures, on his 
abacus (see page 112), while you do the same sum 
with pencil and paper. Make several trials of the 
sort and see which can do the multiplication most 
quickly. 

The chances are that he will be first. 



112 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Remember that this Chinese is a mere peasant, 
a laundryman in our country, probably; there are 
three hundred million people in his country as clever 
as he; and many millions far more clever. Try the 
same experiment with a laborer on the street — an 




An abacus. 

Italian, a German, any European — and you will find 
that the Chinese can do the sum about as quickly 
as you can, while the European will often be much 
slower. 

Why we do not want the Chinese in America 

Now why is it that we want to keep the Chinese 
out of our country — as we do, and ought to do? 
They are sober, honest, clean (when they have a 
chance to be), industrious, obedient, frugal. These 
are good virtues for a citizen to have. Why are 
the Chinese not wanted here? 

There are several good reasons. One of them 
is that Chinese seldom, if ever, become citizens 
at all. They are here merely to make money. As 



WHY WE DO NOT WANT THE CHINESE 113 

soon as they have saved enough for their purpose 
they go back to China, their country, to live and die 
there. They have no personal interest in this coun- 
try. They do not wish to become Americans and 
to help to make the country better and greater. 
They use it like a mine, and take what gold they 
can out of it, and leave it when they have enough. 
The European who conies here means to stay and to 
be one of us. He is fond of the old country, but 
his home and his children's home is here. Therefore 
he is welcome. The Chinaman is not. 

The Chinese are frugal, as we have said. It is a 
virtue for a citizen to live within his income and to 
save part of it. The Chinese in China have been 
forced for centuries to be most economical and sav- 
ing. A Chinese laborer can live on ten cents a day 
and can do about as much w r ork as a European who 
is used to spending fifty cents or more. The Chinese 
will sleep in a cellar, crowded ten or twenty in a 
room, if necessary. The European emigrant wants 
a separate room for himself and his family, good 
food, good clothes, and everything respectable and 
decent. He is the kind of citizen that we need. We 
wish every one here to have such wants and to satisfy 
them as far as he honestly can. He must not be 
discontented and fretful if he is poor; but he must 
wish to improve his condition. He must desire to 
be like other Americans. The Chinese has no such 
desire at all. He is perfectly willing to work hard 
and to live in a cellar on ten cents a day and to save 
the rest of his wages to take home by and by. 

If men were mere machines, if our only desire 



114 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

were to get our work well done and to pay as little 
for it as possible, we should open our doors wide 
and let the Chinese come in as fast as they like and 
go away as soon as they please. 

Suppose that we did this, what would be the 
result? The Chinese laborers would flock here by 
hundreds and hundreds of thousands; by millions. 
Wherever there was work to be done they would 
undertake to do it for half-price; for much less than 
a European or an American could afford to work. 
They could live on ten cents a day and work for 
fifty cents. The European emigrant could not live 
decently with his family for that. He would be 
obliged either to go back to Europe (thus losing us 
a possible good citizen), or else to live like the Chi- 
nese, to take his low wages, and to live on rice, as 
he does. 

If we allowed the Chinese to come in shoals, as 
they would be glad to do, and if we looked on emi- 
grants as mere machines for doing work as cheaply 
as possible, America would soon become a country 
with only three classes of persons in it: First, the 
few rich men who had money to pay for work; sec- 
ond, the millions of Chinese who were doing all the 
work; third, the millions of Americans who could 
not and would not live on ten cents a day, and who 
could not afford to spend more if they accepted the 
Chinaman's wages. These millions of Americans 
would then be idle, out of work. 

It is perfectly true that, things being as they are 
now, we all wish to get our work done as cheaply 
as possible. We will employ an American laborer 



WHY WE DO NOT W^ANT THE CHINESE 115 

for $1.50 a day rather than pay another man, no 
better, $2. But we wish each and every man 
in our country to live decently and in comfort, to 
have a house to himself, plenty of good food and 
good clothes for his wife and children, leisure to 
enjoy himself, opportunity to rise in the world. It 
may sometimes seem to him that he is working like 
a mere machine — all Americans work hard — but 
the country will see to it that he has a chance 
to rise; that he and his children are not crowded 
out by labor which is cheaper than his because it is 
willing to accept a lower scale of decency and com- 
fort. 

Finally, this is a Christian country, and, although 
we differ in our beliefs, we ail acknowledge the same 
God. The Chinese believe very differently, and are 
not wanted among us for this reason also. Let them 
keep to their country and make the most of it. "We 
will keep to ours and do the same. These are some 
of the plain reasons why America should not be 
opened to the Chinese, in spite of the fact that the 
Chinaman has many virtues and deserves our respect 
in many ways. 

We can learn useful lessons from him; and, in 
spite of his queer face and queer clothes and queer 
manners, we must praise his soberness, honesty, in- 
telligence, faithfulness. We must treat him fairly. 
He deserves it. But, for all that, he is not wanted 
here. 



CHAPTEE VIII 

Great snakes and serpents that Marco Polo saw — Of the battle 
that was fought by the Great Khan's army against the King of 
Burma and Bengal — How the Khan rewarded the valor of his 
captains — Of the great descent that leads toward the kingdom of 
Burma — The unicorn — Concerning the province of Kwei-chau — 
Fierce dogs that fight with tigers — Concerning the great river 
Hoang-Ho (the Yellow River) — The canals of China — Concerning 
the great city of Siang-Yang-fu and how it was captured — Con- 
cerning the great river Yang-tze-Kiang. 

Marco Polo's book now begins to tell about dif- 
ferent provinces of the Chinese Empire and to de- 
scribe the people lie meets, their manners of speech 
(for the spoken languages of different parts of China 
were, and are, different), their trades, occupations, 
manufactures, etc. All these particulars are of the 
highest interest to history, but we shall not follow 
him in his travels from place to place. We shall 
learn more by taking chapters out of his book, here 
and there, that describe some new and strange thing, 
like this one about great snakes and serpents that 
he saw. You must read over these paragraphs and 
see if you can tell what kind of animals he was talking 
about. 

Great Snakes and Serpents that Marco Polo Saw 

In this province are found snakes and great serpents 
of such vast size as to strike fear into those who see them, 
116 



GREAT SNAKES AND SERPENTS 117 

and so hideous that the very account of them must excite 
the wonder of those who hear it. I will tell you how 
long and big they are. 

You may be assured that some of them are ten paces 
(that is, nearly thirty feet) in length; some are more and 
some less. And in bulk they are equal to a great cask, 
for the bigger ones are about eight feet in girth. The 
head is very big. The mouth is large enough to swallow 
a man whole, and is garnished with great pointed teeth. 
And in short they are so fierce-looking and so hideous- 
ly ugly, that every man and beast must stand in fear 
and trembling of them. There are also smaller ones, 
such as of eight paces long, and of five, and of one pace 
only. 

The way in which they are caught is this : You must 
know that by day they live underground because of the 
great heat, and in the night they go out to feed, and 
devour every animal they can catch. They go also to 
drink at the rivers and lakes and springs. And their 
weight is so great that when they travel in search of 
food or drink, as they do by night, the tail makes a great 
furrow in the soil, as if a full cask of liquor had been 
dragged along. 

Now the huntsmen who go after them take them by 
a certain trap which they set in the track over which the 
serpent has passed, knowing that the beast will come back 
the same way. They plant a stake deep in the ground, 
and fix on the head of this a sharp blade of steel made 
like a lance-point, and then they cover the whole with 
sand, so that the serpent can not see it. 

Indeed, the huntsman plants several such stakes and 
blades on the track. On coming to the spot, the beast 
strikes against the iron blade with such force that it 
enters his breast and cuts him, so that he dies on the 
spot ; and the crows on seeing the brute dead begin to caw, 



118 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

and then the huntsmen know that the serpent is dead and 
come in search of him. 

They also sell the flesh of this serpent, for it is ex- 
cellent eating, and the people are very fond of it. And 
when these serpents are very hungry, sometimes they will 
seek ont the lairs of tigers or bears, and devour their 
cubs, without the sire and dam being able to prevent it. 
Indeed, if they catch the big ones they devour them too; 
they can make no resistance. 

Now, does not this sound like a traveler's story? 
A serpent thirty feet long, as big as a cask, that can 




A crocodile. 

devour tigers and bears! But if you call the brute 
a crocodile or an alligator instead of a " serpent," 
all the wonder ceases. Marco Polo was describing 
crocodiles which he saw for the first time, although 
they had been known in Egypt thousands of years. 

Of the Battle that was fought by the Great 
Khan's Army against the King of Burma and 
Bengal 

But I was forgetting to tell you of a famous battle 
that was fought, and that ought not to be omitted from 
our book. 



THE GREAT BATTLE 119 

You see, in the year of Christ 1277, the Great Khan 
sent a large force into the kingdom of Vochan. ]STow 
there was a certain King called the King of Burma and 
Bengal, who was a very powerful Prince, with much terri- 
tory and treasure and people. And it came to pass that 
when this King heard that the host of the Great Khan 
was at Vochan, he said to himself that it behoved him to 
go against them with so great a force as should insure 
his cutting off the whole of them, insomuch that the Great 
Khan would be very sorry ever to send an army thither 
again. 

So this King prepared a great force; and he had, let 
me tell you, two thousand great elephants, on each of 
which was set a tower of timber, well framed and strong, 
and carrying from twelve to sixteen well-armed fighting- 
men. And besides these, he had of horsemen and of foot- 
men good sixty thousand men. In short, he equipped a 
fine force, as well befitted such a powerful Prince. It was 
indeed an army capable of doing great things. 

And what shall I tell you? When the King had com- 
pleted these great preparations to fight the Tartars, he 
tarried not, but straightway marched against them. 

And when the Captain of the Tartar army had certain 
news that the King aforesaid was coming against him 
with so great a force, he grew uneasy, seeing that he had 
with him but twelve thousand horsemen. Nevertheless he 
was a most valiant and able soldier, of great experience 
in arms, and an excellent Captain. 

His troops too were very good, and he gave them 
very particular orders how to act, and took every measure 
for his own defense and that of his army. And why 
should I make a long story of it ? The whole force of the 
Tartars advanced to receive the enemy in the Plain of 
Vochan, and there they waited to give them battle. And 
this they did through the good judgment of the excellent 
10 



120 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Captain who led them; for close to that plain was a great 
wood, thick with trees. 

And when the army of the King of Burma had arrived 
in the plain, and was within a mile of the enemy, he 
caused all the castles that were on the elephants to be 
set in order for battle, and the fighting-men to take up 
their posts on them, and he arrayed his horse and his foot 
with all skill, like a wise King as he was. And when 
he had completed all his arrangements, he began to ad- 
vance. 

The Tartars, seeing the foe advance, showed no dis- 
may, but came on likewise with good order to meet them. 
And when they were near, and naught remained but to 
begin the fight, the horses of the Tartars took such fright 
at the sight of the elephants that they could not be got 
to face the foe, but always turned back; while all the 
time the King and his forces, and all his elephants, con- 
tinued to advance upon them. 

And when the Tartars perceived how the case stood, 
they knew not what to say or do; for well enough they 
saw that unless they could get their horses to advance 
all would be lost. But their Captain acted like a wise 
leader who had considered everything beforehand. 

He immediately gave orders that every man should 
dismount and tie his horse to the trees of the forest that 
stood hard by, and that then they should take to their 
bows, a weapon that they knew how to handle better than 
any troops in the world. 

They did as he bade them, and plied their bows stout- 
ly, shooting so many arrows at the advancing elephants 
that in a short space they had wounded or slain the 
greater part of them, as well as of the men they car- 
ried. The enemy also shot at the Tartars, but the Tar- 
tars had the better weapons, and were the better archers 
to boot. 



THE GREAT BATTLE 121 

And what shall I tell you? Understand that when 
the elephants felt the smart of those arrows that pelted 
them like rain, they turned tail and fled, and nothing on 
earth would have induced them to face the Tartars. So 
off they sped with such a noise and uproar that you would 
have believed the world was coming to an end ! And then, 
too, they plunged into the wood and rushed this way and 
that, dashing their castles against the trees, bursting their 
harness, and smashing and destroying everything that 
was on them. 

So when the Tartars saw that the elephants had turned 
tail and could not be brought to face the fight again, 
they got to horse at once and charged the enemy. And 
then the battle began to rage furiously with sword and 
mace. Right fiercely did the two hosts rush together, and 
deadly were the blows exchanged. 

The King's troops were far more in number than the 
Tartars, but they were not so brave, nor so hardened to 
war; otherwise the Tartars, who were few in number, 
could never have stood against them. Then might you 
see swashing blows dealt and taken from sword and mace ; 
then might you see knights and horses go down; then 
might you see arms and hands and legs and heads hewn 
off; and besides the dead that fell, many a wounded man, 
that never rose again, for the sore press there was. 

The din and uproar were so great from this side and 
from that, that God might have thundered and no man 
would have heard it! Great was the medley, and dire 
and dreadful was the fight that was fought on both sides; 
but the Tartars had the best of it. 

In an ill hour indeed for the King and his people was 
that battle begun, so many of them were slain therein. 
And when they had continued fighting till midday, the 
King's troops could stand against the Tartars no longer, 
but felt that they were defeated, and turned and fled. 



122 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

And when the Tartars saw thern routed they gave chase, 
and hacked and slew so mercilessly that it was a piteous 
sight to see. 

But after pursuing awhile they gave up, and returned 
to the wood to catch the elephants that had run away ; 
and to manage this they had to cut down great trees to 
bar their passage. Even then they would not have been 
able to- take them without the help of the King's own men 
who had been taken, and who knew better how to deal 
with the beasts than the Tartars did. The elephant is an 
animal that has more intelligence than any other; but in 
this way at last they were caught, more than two hundred 
of them. And it was from this time forth that the Great 
Khan began to keep numbers of elephants. 

How the Khan rewarded the Valor of his 
Captains * 

So we will have done with this matter, and go on 
to tell you how the Great Khan rewarded those Barons 
who had behaved well in the battle. Him who was before 
captain of one hundred he made captain of one thousand; 
and him who was captain of one thousand men he made 
to be captain of ten thousand, advancing every man ac- 
cording to his deserts and to his previous rank. 

Besides that, he also made them presents of fine silver 
plate and other rich appointments; gave them Tablets of 
Authority of a higher degree than they held before; and 
bestowed upon them fine jewels of gold and silver, and 
pearls and precious stones; insomuch that the amount 
that fell to each of them was something astonishing. And 
yet 'twas not so much as they had deserved; for never 

* This chapter from Marco Polo relates, in his book, to a dif- 
ferent battle and to other officers ; but the rewards were the same 
in both cases. 



THE GREAT DESCENT 



123 



were men seen who did such feats of arms for the love 
and honor of their King as these had done on that day 
of the battle. 

Of the Great Descent that leads toward the 
Kingdom of Burma 

After leaving the province I have been describing to 
you, you come to a great descent. In fact, you ride for 
two days and a half continually downhill. On all this 
descent there is nothing worthy of mention, except only 




The British coat of arms — the lion and the unicorn (a fabulous 
animal) support it. 

that there is a large place there where occasionally a 
great market is held; for all the people of the coun- 
try round come thither on fixed days, and hold a market 
there. 

They exchange gold for silver; for they have gold in 
abundance; and they give one ounce of fine gold for five 



124 THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 

ounces of fine silver ; * so this induces merchants to come 
from various quarters, bringing silver which they ex- 
change for gold with these people; and in this way the 
merchants make great gain. 

After you have ridden those two days and a half 
downhill you find yourself in a province (of Burma), 
which is pretty near to India. You travel therein for 
fifteen days through a very unfrequented country and 
through great woods abounding in elephants and uni- 
corns,f and numbers of other wild beasts. There are no 
dwellings and no people, so we need say no more of this 
wild country, for in truth there is nothing to tell. 

Concerning the Province of Kwei-chau 

After leaving Koloman you travel along a river for 
twelve days, meeting with a good number of towns and 
villages, but nothing worthy of particular mention. After 
you have traveled those twelve days along the river, you 
come to a great and noble city which is called Phun- 
gau-lu. 

The people live by trade and handicrafts, and they 
manufacture stuffs of the bark of certain trees which 
form very fine summer clothing. They are good soldiers, 
and have paper money. For you must understand that 

* In our time and country an ounce of silver is worth about 
sixty cents and an ounce of gold over twenty dollars, which is 
much more than five times as much. The worth (value) of a 
metal depends largely upon its scarceness. Silver has been get- 
ting more and more plentiful of late years. In 1700 an ounce 
of gold would buy nearly fifteen ounces of silver ; in 1800 near- 
ly sixteen ounces ; in 1876 more than seventeen ounces ; in 
1886 more than twenty ounces ; in 1896 more than thirty 
ounces. 

f Notice that the rhinoceros is called the unicorn. 



CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF KWEI-CHAU 125 

henceforward we are in the countries where the Great 
Khan's paper money is current.* 

The country swarms with tigers to that degree that 
no man can venture to sleep outside his house at night. 




Chinese paper money. 

Moreover, when you travel on that river, and come to 
a halt at night, unless you keep a good way from the 
bank the tigers will spring on the boat and snatch one 
of the crew and make off with him and devour him. And 



* Like our bank-notes. 



126 THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 

but for a certain help that the inhabitants enjoy, no one 
could venture to travel in that province, because of the 
multitude of those tigers, and because of their strength 
and ferocity. 

But you see they have in this province a large breed 
of dogs, so fierce and bold that two of them together will 
attack a tiger. So every man who goes a journey takes 
with him a couple of those dogs ; and when a tiger appears 
they attack him with the greatest boldness, and the tiger 
turns on them, but can't touch them, for they are very 
skilful in avoiding his blows. 

So they follow him, perpetually giving tongue (bark- 
ing), and watching their chance to give him a bite. So, 
to escape the dogs' din, the tiger makes off, and gets into 
the wood, where mayhap he stands at bay against a tree. 
And when the travelers see the tiger in this plight they 
take to their bows, for they are capital archers, and shoot 
their arrows at him till he falls dead. And 'tis thus that 
travelers in those parts do deliver themselves from those 
tigers. 

They have a good deal of silk and other products, 
which are carried up and down, by the river of which 
we spoke, into various quarters. 

CONCERNING THE GREAT RlVER HoANG-Ho 

It is a great river and more than a mile in width, 
and so deep that great ships can navigate it. It abounds 
in fish, and very big ones, too. You must know that in 
this river there are some fifteen thousand junks (vessels) 
all belonging to the Great Khan, and each of these ves- 
sels will require twenty sailors, and will carry fifteen 
horses, with the men belonging to them. 



CONCERNING THE CITY OF SIANG-YANG-FU 127 

The Canals of China 

You must understand that the Emperor has caused 
wide and deep canals to be dug between river and river, 
lake and lake, forming, as it were, rivers on which large 
vessels can ply. And thus there is a communication be- 
tween each city and Peking, so that great vessels with 
their loads can go the whole way. A land road also exists, 
for the earth dug from those canals has been thrown up 
to form an embanked road on either side. 

Any good map of China will show you some of 
the canals. One of them (the Grand Canal) starts 
from Hang-Chau (south of Shanghai) and runs north 
to the Yang-tze-Kiang river, thence northwest, about 
seventy-five miles from the sea-coast, to the Hoang- 
Ho river, thence north to Peking. There are hun- 
dreds of smaller canals also. The Grand Canal is 
more than one thousand miles long, and it passes 
through forty or fifty great cities. Thousands of 
junks are constantly passing through it carrying the 
rice of the southern provinces to the north. 

Concerning the Great City of Siang-Yang-fu and 
how it was Captured 

NTow you must know that this city held out against 
the Great Khan for three years after the rest of the 
province had surrendered. The Great Khan's troops 
made incessant attempts to take it, but they could not 
succeed because of the great and deep waters that were 
round about it, so that they could approach from one side 
only, which was the north. And I tell you they never 
would have taken it, but for a circumstance that I am 
going to relate. 



128 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

You must know that when the Great Khan's army had 
lain three years before the city without being able to take 
it, they were greatly chafed thereat. Then Messer Nicolo 
Polo and Messer Maffeo and Messer Marco said, " We 
could find you a way of forcing the city to surrender 
speedily " ; whereupon those of the army replied, that they 
would be right glad to know how that should be. 

All this talk took place in the presence of the Great 
Khan. For messengers had been despatched from the 
camp to tell him that there was no taking the city by 
blockade, for it continually received supplies of victual 
from those sides which they were unable to surround; 
and the Great Khan had sent back word that take it they 
must, and find a way how. 

Then spoke up the Two Brothers and Messer Marco 
the son, and said : " Great Prince, we have with us among 
our followers men who are able to construct mangonels * 
which shall cast such great stones that the garrison will 
never be able to stand them, but will surrender at once, 
as soon as the mangonels shall have shot into the town." 

The Khan bade them with all his heart have such 
mangonels made as speedily as possible. Now Messer 
ISTicolo and his brother and his son immediately caused 
timber to be brought, as much as they desired, and fit for 
the work in hand. And they had two men among their 
followers, a German and a Nestorian Christian, who were 
masters of that business, and these they directed to con- 
struct two or three mangonels capable of casting stones 
of three hundred pounds' weight. 

Accordingly they made three fine ones, each of which 
cast stones of three hundred pounds' weight and more. 
And when they were ready for use, the Emperor and 
the others were greatly pleased to see them, and caused 

* A kind of war engine for throwing huge stones. 



CONCERNING THE RIVER YANG-TZE-KIANG 129 

several stones to be shot in their presence; whereat they 
marveled greatly and greatly praised the work. And the 
Khan ordered that the engines should be carried to his 
army. 

And when the engines were got to the camp they were 
forthwith set up, to the great admiration of the Tartars. 
And what shall I tell you? When the engines were set 
up, a stone was shot from each of them into the town. 
These took effect upon the buildings, crashing and smash- 
ing through everything with huge din and commotion. 

And when the townspeople witnessed this new and 
strange visitation, they were so astonished and dismayed 
that they knew not what to do or say. They took counsel 
together, but no counsel could be suggested how to escape 
from these engines, for the thing seemed to them to be 
done by magic. They declared that they were all dead 
men if they yielded not, so they determined to sur- 
render. 

So the men of the city surrendered ; and this all came 
about through the exertions of Messer Nicolo and Messer 
Maffeo and Messer Marco; and it was no small matter. 
For this city and province is one of the best that the 
Great Khan possesses, and brings him great revenues. 

CoNCERXIXG THE GREAT RlVER YAXG-TZE-KlAXG * 

I assure you this river flows so far and traverses so 
many countries and cities that in good sooth there pass 
and repass on its waters more wealth and merchandise 
than on all the rivers and all the seas of Christendom 
put together! It seems indeed more like a Sea than a 
River. Messer Marco Polo said that he once beheld fifteen 
thousand vessels (junks) at one time. And you may 

* The Chinese name means " Son of the Ocean." 



130 THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 

judge, if this city has such a number, how many there 
must be altogether, considering that on the banks of this 
river there are more than sixteen provinces and more 
than two hundred great cities, besides towns and villages, 
all possessing vessels. 

Messer Marco Polo aforesaid tells us that he heard 
from the officer employed to collect the Great Khan's 
duties on this river that there passed upstream two hun- 
dred thousand vessels in the year, without counting those 
that passed down ! 

Indeed, as it has a course of such great length, and 
receives so many other navigable rivers, it is no wonder 
that the merchandise which is borne on it is of vast 
amount and value. And the article in largest quantity 
of all is salt, which is carried by this river and its 
branches to all the cities on their banks, and thence to 
other cities in the interior. 

The vessels which ply on this river are decked. They 
have but one mast, but they are very large, for I can 
assure you they carry, reckoning by our weight, nearly 
five hundred tons each. In going upstream they have to 
be hauled, for the current is so strong that they could not 
make head in any other manner. 

Now the tow-line, which is some three hundred paces 
in length, is made of nothing but bamboo. 'Tis in this 
way: they have those great bamboos of which I told you 
before; these they split from end to end into many slen- 
der strips, and then they twist these strips together so as 
to make a rope of any length they please. And the ropes 
so made are stronger than if they were made of hemp. 



CHAPTEK IX 

The island of Japan — How the Great Khan sent an army 
against it — Were any of these Chinese wrecked in Peru ? — Con- 
cerning the island of Sumatra — The North Star — Concerning 
India — Pearl-fishers — Concerning the kingdom of Golconda in 
India — How diamonds are found there (as told in the Arabian 
Nights) — Concerning the province of G-uzerat, in India, and the 
Brahmans — Early Chinese trade with India — Concerning the 
island of Zanzibar — Negroes — Madagascar — The giraffe — The 
Rukh ? — Siberia — The Land of Darkness — Russia — Conclusion. 

Marco did not visit Japan, but lie sets down what 
he heard. People were talking about Japan in his 
time because the Great .Khan had lately been at war 
with that country, as we shall hear. 

The Island of Japan, and how the Great Khan 
sent an Army against it 

Japan is an island toward the east in the high seas; 
and a very great island it is. 

The people are white, civilized, and good-looking. 
They are Boodhists, and are dependent on nobody. And 
I can tell you the quantity of gold they have is endless; 
for they find it in their own Islands, and the King does 
not allow it to be exported. Moreover, few merchants 
visit this country because it is so far from the mainland, 
and thus it comes to pass that their gold is abundant 
beyond all measure. 

131 



HOW THE GREAT KHAN SENT AN ARMY 133 



Kublai, the Grand Khan who now reigneth, having 
heard much of the immense wealth that was in this Island, 
formed a plan to get possession of it. For this purpose 
he sent two of his Barons with a great navy, and a great 




The Emperor of Japan. From an ancient native drawing. 

force of horse and foot. These Barons were able and 
valiant men, and they weighed anchor with all their com- 
pany and put out to sea. 

They sailed until they reached the Island aforesaid, 
and there they landed, and occupied the open country and 
the villages, but did not succeed in getting possession of 
any city or castle. And a disaster befell them, as I shall 
tell you. 



134 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

It came to pass that there arose a wind which blew 
with great fury (a typhoon) and caused great damage to 
the coasts of that Island, for its harbors are few. It blew 

so hard that the Great 
Khan's fleet could not 
stand up against it, and 
when the chiefs saw 
that they came to the 
conclusion that if the 
ships remained there 
the whole navy would 
perish. So they all got 
on board and made sail 
to leave the country; 
and a great part of the 
fleet was wrecked and a 
great multitude of the 
army perished. 

The Great Khan's 
army consisted of 
about one hundred 
thousand men. They 

must have had some- 
An ancient Japanese archer. , . ,., ,-, -, 

Prom a native drawing. thin g hke a thousand 

ships (junks), many of 
them quite stout and seaworthy. The Chinese ships 
of those days were far better than the vessels in which 
Columbus crossed the ocean in 1492. No doubt most 
of these ships were wrecked and their crews perished. 
Some people think it not impossible that a few out 
of the thousand junks drifted or sailed all the way 
across the Pacific ocean and landed on our continent, 





11 



136 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

where the survivors may have taught their arts and 
trades and customs to the Indians of South America. 
It is not impossible, and it should be mentioned here, 
but at the same time you must remember that noth- 
ing of the sort is proved. 

Concerning the Island of Sumatra 

Let me first say one marvelous thing, and that is the 
fact that this island lies so far to the south that the North 
Star is never to be seen. (See page 137.) 

There are wild elephants in the country, and numer- 
ous unicorns (rhinoceroses), which are very nearly as big. 
They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet like those of an 
elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which 
is black and very thick. They delight much to abide in 
mire and mud. 'Tis a passing ugly beast to look npon, 
and not in the least like the unicorn of our stories; in 
fact, 'tis altogether different from what we fancied. 

There are also monkeys here, in great numbers and of 
sundry kinds. 

Concerning India 

When you leave the Island of Ceylon and sail west- 
ward about sixty miles, you come to a great province of 
India the Greater; it is the best of all the Indies, and is 
on the mainland. In this kingdom they find very fine 
and great pearls ; and I will tell you how they are got. 

Pearl Fishers 

The sea here forms a gulf between the Island of Cey- 
lon and the mainland. And all round this gulf the water 
has a depth of no more than ten or twelve fathoms, and 
in some places no move than two fathoms. The pearl- 



THE NORTHERN STARS 



137 




The stars of the northern sky. 



The pole-star is at the center of the cut. The Great Bear (the Dipper) is at the 
bottom. The arrows show the direction in which the stars move round 
the pole from rising to setting. Now, it is a fact that in the middle part 
of the United States the pole-star is high above the horizon, as in the 
picture ; in Florida it is much nearer the horizon ; in Puerto Rico it is 
nearer still ; in Brazil the pole-star is on the horizon, and in the Argentine 
Republic you can not see it at all. The smaller the north latitude the 
nearer is the pole-star to the horizon. Countries on the equator see the 
pole-star on the horizon. In the southern hemisphere the pole-star is not 
visible at all. 



fishers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed into 
this gulf, where they stop from the beginning of April 
till the middle of May. 

The men jump into the water and dive to the bottom, 



138 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

and there they remain as long as they are able. And 
there they find the shells that contain the pearls, and these 
they put into a net bag tied round the waist, and mount 
up to the surface with them, and then dive anew. When 
they can't hold their breath any longer they come up 
again, and after a little down they go once more, and 




Natives of India. 

so they go on all day. These shells are in fashion like 
oysters. And in these shells are found pearls, great and 
small, of every kind, sticking in the flesh of the shell-fish. 
In this manner pearls are fished in great quantities, 
for thence in fact come the pearls which are spread all 
over the world. 



CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF GOLCONDA 139 



Concerning the Kingdom of Golconda, in India, 
and how Diamonds are found there 

It is in this kingdom that diamonds are got; and I 
will tell you how. There are certain lofty mountains in 
those parts; and when the winter rains fall, the waters 
come roaring down the mountains in great torrents. 
When the rains are over, and the waters from the moun- 
tains have ceased to flow, they search the beds of the 
torrents and find plenty of diamonds. In summer also 
there are plenty to be found in the mountains, but the 
heat of the sun is so great that it is scarcely possible 
to go thither, nor is there then a drop of water to be 
found. 

Moreover, in those mountains great serpents are rife 
to a marvelous degree, and this owing to the great heat. 
The serpents are also the most venomous in existence, 
insomuch that any one going to that region runs fearful 
peril; for many have been destroyed by these evil reptiles. 

Now among these mountains there are certain great 
and deep valleys, to the bottom of which there is no 
access. Wherefore the men who go in search of the dia- 
monds take with them pieces of flesh, and these they cast 
into the bottom of the valley. Now there are numbers of 
white eagles that haunt those mountains and feed upon 
the serpents. When the eagles see the meat thrown down 
they pounce upon it, and carry it up to some rocky hill- 
top where they begin to rend it. 

But there are men on the watch, and as soon as they 
see that the eagles have settled they raise a loud shouting 
to drive them away. And when the eagles are thus fright- 
ened away the men recover the pieces of meat, and find 
them full of diamonds which have stuck to the meat down 
in the bottom. For the abundance of diamonds down 



140 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

there in the depths of the valleys is astonishing, but 
nobody can get down; and if one could, it would be only 
to be immediately devoured by the serpents. 

There is also another way of getting the diamonds. 
The people go to the nests of those white eagles, of which 
there are many, and find plenty of diamonds. And when 
the eagles themselves are taken, diamonds are found in 
their stomachs. 

So now I have told you three different ways in which 
these stones are found.* 

Concerning the Province of Gtjzerat, in India, 
and the brahmans 

You must know that these Brahmans are the best 
(people) in the world, and the most truthful, for they 
would not tell a lie for anything on earth. They eat no 
flesh and drink no wine; nor would they on any account 
take what belongs to another; for so their law commands. 

These Brahmans are idolaters. They are very long 
lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in eating. There 
are certain of them who live the most ascetic life in the 
world, and these worship the ox. They eat not from bowls 
or plates, but put their victuals on leaves; these, how- 
ever, they use dry, never green. For they say the green 
leaves have a soul in them, and so it would be a sin. And 
they would rather die than do what their Law says is 
a sin. They would not kill an animal on any account, 
not even a fly or a flea. 

Marco describes the countries of India in order 

* The story of the eagles and the meat is a pure fable, of 
course ; but it has been told by many others besides Marco Polo. 
You can find it in another form in the Home Reading book, 
Stories from the Arabian Nights, page 59. 



CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF GUZERAT 141 

as he visited them, and tells what manner of ani- 
mals are found in each, what customs the people 
have, what manufactures and products each province 
furnishes. These chapters of his are mostly very 




The sacred bull of Shiva — a Hindu idol. 

very short and need not detain us, though they are 
important to history. One thing we must notice, 
however. On speaking of the kingdom of Malibar, 
in British India (on the west coast, in latitude 13° 
north), he says that ships come here from many 
quarters, especially from China. This will make us 
remember that long before Marco Polo's day the 
great Chinese junks (vessels) traded to various parts 
of India. As soon as Europeans reached India, then 



CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF ZANZIBAR 143 

(about a. d. 1315), they heard accounts of the coun- 
tries still further eastward. Our early knowledge 
of China came to us both from travelers by land, 
like Marco, and from the early navigators. 

He describes Abyssinia, Madagascar, and Zanzi- 
bar, too, though he did not visit them. 

Concerning the Island of Zanzibar 

The people are all black, and their hair is as black 
as pepper and so frizzly that even with water you can 
scarcely straighten it. And their mouths are so large, 
their noses so turned up, their lips so thick, their eyes 
so big and blood-shot, that they look so hideously ugly 
that the world has nothing to show more horrible (negroes 
these are called). 

There are also lions that are black and quite different 
from ours. And their sheep are all exactly alike in color 
— the body all white and the head black; no other kind of 
sheep is found there, you may rest assured. 

They have also many giraffes. This is a beautiful 
creature, and I must give you a description of it. Its 
body is short and somewhat sloped to the rear, for its 
hind legs are short, while the fore legs and the neck are 
both very long, and thus its head stands about three paces 
from the ground. The head is small, and the animal is 
not at all mischievous. Its color is all red and white 
in round spots, and it is really a beautiful object. 

The women of this Island are the ugliest in the world, 
with their great mouths and big eyes and thick noses. 
The people live on rice and flesh and milk and dates ; and 
they make wine of dates and of rice and of good spices 
and sugar. There is a great deal of trade, and many 
merchants and vessels go thither. 



144 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



In Madagascar, or somewhere in southeastern 
Africa, Marco tells us there is a huge bird called 
the rukh (roc), that you have no doubt read of 
in the Arabian lights. There is no such bird now- 
adays. 

After he has finished his description of India and 
got back to the city of Hormuz, from which he 




The rukh, which feedeth its young on elephants. 

started, Marco speaks of various wars among the 
Tartar princes, and then gives an account of some 
of the northern countries. 

We will pass by the wars of the Tartars and 
give some of Marco's paragraphs about the countries 
of the far North, by which he means 



DESCRIPTION OF RUSSIA AND ITS PEOPLE 145 



Siberia 

You find in this country immense bears entirely white, 
more than eight feet and a half in length. There are 
also black foxes and abundance of sables ; those creatures, 
I mean, from whose skins they make those precious robes 
that cost about $3,000 each. And you must know that 
there is a part of this country quite impassable for horses. 
There is so much ice as well as mud and mire that horses 
can not travel over it. Wherefore they make sledges, 
which are carriages without wheels. On such a sledge 
they lay a bear skin, on which the traveler sits, and the 
sledge is drawn by six big dogs. There is no more to say 
on this subject, and so I shall tell you of a region in that 
neighborhood in which there is perpetual darkness. 

Concerning the Land of Darkness 

Still farther north and a long way beyond that king- 
dom of which I have spoken there is a region which bears 
the name of Darkness, because neither sun nor moon nor 
stars appear. The people of this region (the Eskimo) are 
tali and shapely, but very pale and colorless. One end 
of the country borders upon Great Kussia. (See the map 
on page 9.) 

Description of Kussia and its People 

Russia is a very great province, lying toward the 
north. The people are Christians. They have several 
kings in that country,* and they have a language of 
their own. 

It is not a land of trade, though, to be sure, they have 

* This was true in Polo's time. There is only one king (Czar) 
now, of course. 



146 THE ADVENTURES OP MARCO POLO 

many and valuable furs, such as sables and ermine and 
fox-skins, the finest in the world. They also possess many 
silver mines. There is nothing else worth mentioning, so 
let us leave Russia and I will tell you about the Black 
Sea and what provinces lie round about it — and we will 
begin with Constantinople. At the straits leading into 
the Black Sea, on the west side, there is a hill called the 
Faro — but since beginning on this matter I have changed 
my mind, because so many people know all about it, so 
we will not put it in our book. 

You can almost hear Marco Polo talking in these 
last sentences. These are probably his very words, 
taken down by his secretary as they fell from his 
lips. He has completed his long and wonderful story, 
such a story as no man before him had ever told. 
It is time to give the 

Conclusion 

And now ye have heard all that we can tell you about 
the Tartars and the Saracens and their customs, and like- 
wise about the other countries of the world, as far as our 
researches and information extend. Only we have said 
nothing whatever about the Black Sea and the provinces 
that lie round it, although we know it thoroughly. 

But it seems to me a useless task to speak about places 
which are visited by people every day. For there are so 
many who sail about that sea constantly, Venetians and 
Genoese and Pisans, and many others, that everybody 
knows all about it, and that is the reason that I say noth- 
ing of it. 

Of the manner in which we took our departure from 
the Court of the Great Khan you have heard at the be- 
ginning of the book, in that chapter where we told you 



CONCLUSION 147 

of all the vexation and trouble that Messer Maffeo and 
Messer JSTicolo and Messer Marco had about getting the 
Great Khan's leave to go; and in the same chapter is 
related the lucky chance that led to our departure. 

And you may be sure that but for that lucky chance 
we should never have got away in spite of all our trouble, 
and never have got back to our country again. But I 
believe it was God's pleasure that we should get back, 
in order that people might learn about the things that the 
world contains. 

For according to what has been said in the introduc- 
tion at the beginning of the book, there never was a man, 
be he Christian or Saracen, or Tartar or Heathen, who 
ever traveled over so much of the world as did that noble 
and illustrious citizen of the City of Venice, Messer 
Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo Polo. 



CHAPTEK X 

What kind of a man was Marco Polo ? — His character — His 
discoveries — A few words about the progress of geographical dis- 
covery in Asia, Africa, and America — Ibn Batuta — The mariner's 
compass— Prince Henry the Navigator— Christopher Columbus— 
The story of his life— The discovery of America — Marco Polo's 
share in its discovery. 

What Kind of a Man was Maeco Polo? 

After reading so many of his adventures told 
almost in his own words, you have some kind of an 
idea about the man himself. Stop here and try to 
describe him to yourself. Was he brave? Yes, of 
course he must have been brave to go through all 
these adventures and not shrink nor complain. He 
was brave and resolute. Colonel Yule, of the British 
army, who has made the best edition of his book, 
tells us what his conclusions are. See if you agree 
with him. 

Marco, he says, was, first of all, brave. He was 
a shrewd man of business, wise in all practical affairs. 
He returned to Venice loaded with riches. He was 
prudent; if he had not been, the noblemen at the 
Great Khan's court would have found it easy to get 
rid of this stranger, whom they envied. He was a 
silent and grave man, like so many of the Oriental 
people. One of the Persian poets of his time (Saadi) 
said Avell : 

148 



WHAT KIND OF A MAX WAS MARCO POLO? 149 

A trained orator, wise, aged, 

First meditates, and then speaks ; 

Do not speak without consideration ; 

Speak well — and if slow, what matters it? 

Deliberate — and then begin to talk. 

Say, thyself, " enough," before others say " enough." 

First deliberation, then speech ; 

The foundation first, then the wall. 

He was full of respect for religion, even the re- 
ligion of the strange people among whom he lived. 
He sincerely admired the Great Khan, who had been 
so kind to him, and he served him faithfully and well 
— and indeed the Khan was a great king and a ruler 
of high intelligence, worthy of respect. Marco loved 
splendor and magnificence, as did all the Venetians 
of his day. He was a keen sportsman, and delighted 
in recollections of hunting and' hawking. Nothing 
seemed to astonish him. He had seen so many 
strange sights and had so many strange adventures 
that he describes a wonderful or a ludicrous thing 
with perfect gravity, just as a Chinese might do. In 
many respects he grew to be, in fact, more Asiatic 
than European. 

T\ T e think of Marco Polo to-day as the man whose 
journeys opened the East to us — as the great trav- 
eler. Probably he did not think of himself in that 
way at all. He was not a man of science, nor an 
enthusiastic explorer like Columbus or Yasco da 
Gama. He thought of himself as a merchant, a gen- 
tleman, a court official, a nobleman of Venice. But 
his character and his opportunities have made him a 
secure place in the world's history. His name will 
never be forgotten. 



150 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Makco Polo's Discoveries 

" He was the first Traveler to trace a route across 
the whole longitude of Asia, naming and describing 
kingdom after kingdom which he had seen with his 
own eyes — Persia, Badakhshan, Khotan, the steppes 
of Mongolia; the first to reveal China in all its 
wealth and vastness, its mighty rivers, its huge cities, 
its rich manufactures, its swarming population, and 
to tell us of the nations on its borders — of Tibet, 
Burma, Siam, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, 
India; the first in his own times to describe Abys- 
sinia, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Siberia, and the Arctic 
Ocean." Many of these names so familiar to us were 
first heard of from Marco Polo. Some of the places 
he visited were not entered by Europeans again till 
1850 or so, six hundred years later. 

A Pew Words about the Progress of Geograph- 
ical Discovery in Asia, Africa, and America 

Alexander the Great, in his conquests in the East, 
introduced many countries to the knowledge of Eu- 
rope. In the year b. c. 331 he conquered Persia; 
he entered India in 326. One of his generals sailed 
down the Indus river to its mouth, along the coast 
to the Persian Gulf, and up the Tigris to Bagdad. 

Wherever the armies of the Romans went they 
made surveys of the country, and they have left good 
accounts of Persia and India. The Greek emperors 
of Constantinople encouraged exploration, too. Their 
trade in the East was extensive and very valuable. 
Justinian (born 483 a. d., died 565) sent two Chris- 



PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY 151 

tian monks to China, who brought back the knowl- 
edge of silk manufacture with them, as well as some 
eggs of the silkworm. 

The Arabian Caliphs at Bagdad (750-1258) 
caused European books of science to be translated 
into Arabic, and fostered learning of all sorts. Ara- 
bian travelers visited India and described it very fully 
before the year 1000 a. d. 

The continent of America was first heard of about 
this time. Iceland was a province belonging to Den- 
mark, and the Northmen regularly visited it. In the 
year 985 Erik the Red discovered Greenland, and 
the next year the coasts of New England and of 
Nova Scotia were discovered. For some time regular 
voyages were made from Iceland to Danish settle- 
ments in Greenland. There is no doubt that America 
was several times visited by these Danes hundreds of 
years before Columbus (his discovery was in 1492, 
you remember). 

The Crusaders (1095-1270) became perfectly 
familiar with the nearer East and heard of more 
distant countries. They had an idea that if they 
could but join forces with Prester John (see page 
78) they could easily conquer the Saracens and drive 
them out of Syria and Jerusalem. 

De Rubriquis (see page 8) was sent by King 
Louis IX of France, a crusader, to spy out these 
eastern lands. His travels took him as far as Kara- 
koram (see page 77), the capital city of the Mongol 
Khans, about the year 1253. 



12 



152 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

Ibn Batuta 

This was just before the journey of Marco Polo. 
The Saracens of those days had great travelers too. 
Ibn Batuta (ibn-ba-to'-ta) — born at Tangiers in 1304, 
died at Fez, in Morocco, 1377 — was the greatest of 
them. He explored Syria, Persia, Arabia, parts of 
Africa, Egypt, the Black Sea, and Bokhara, and be- 
came an officer of the court of the Mohammedan 
Sultan of Delhi. The Sultan sent him to China in 
the year 1342, and from China he went to Ceylon. 
In twenty-eight years he traveled some 75,000 miles, 
and finally returned tcr Morocco to write out an ac- 
count of his wanderings. If you remember how 
journeys had to be made in those days, his journeys, 
which averaged 2,700 miles a year for twenty-eight 
years, will seem amazing, as indeed they are. 

The Mariner's Compass 

It was in the fourteenth century that the mari- 
ner's compass became known in Europe (1307). It 
had served as a guide in sea voyages in China for 
a thousand years before this time. 

As soon as sailors learned to depend upon it, long 
voyages were possible. They could sail by the com- 
pass whether the stars shone or not. 

Prince Henry the Navigator (born 1394, died 
1460) 

A granddaughter of King Edward III of Eng- 
land (Eroissart's King Edward) married the King of 
Portugal. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 153 

Her son, Prince Henry (Prince Henry the Navi- 
gator, he is called), devoted himself to discovery. He 
founded a special school of navigation and geography 
with the especial object of finding a sea-route to In- 
dia. The land-route every one knew of. Marco Polo 
had described it. But at that time the land-route 
was closed to Europeans. Prince Henry's first dis- 
covery was of Madeira (1418). His ships explored 
the west coast of Africa, but they were not yet ready 
to venture on the long voyage round the Cape of 
Good Hope to Marco Polo's Madagascar and to India. 

Christopher Columbus 

Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa in 
1435 (or perhaps in 1436). For a while he went to 
the University of Pavia, but he was a sailor by the 
time he was fifteen years old, and a sailor he re- 
mained to the end of his long life. " Wherever a 
ship has sailed there have I voyaged," he said. He is 
known to have been in England, throughout the Med- 
iterranean Sea, to the west coast of Africa, to Ice- 
land, and even " a hundred leagues beyond." 

Whatever a sailor of those days knew he knew: 
navigation, astronomy, map-making, as well as sea- 
manship. About the year 1470 (he was then over 
thirty-five years old) he married the daughter of a 
sea-captain. Now, this captain was one of the officers 
of Prince Henry the Navigator, and had lived in the 
island of Madeira. You must look at a map of the 
world and find Madeira, and notice that it is a con- 
siderable distance to the west of Africa — a kind of 
stepping-stone in the journey from Europe to Amer- 



154 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



ica. Columbus went to Madeira to live, and there 
he heard all that other sailors had to tell him of the 
vast ocean to the westward. There were many peo- 
ple who half believed in a continent close to Europe 




Christopher Columbus; born 1435, died 1506. 

on the other side of the Atlantic. Pieces of wood 
carved in strange ways had drifted to Madeira from 
the West. 

He began to reflect about possible new discov- 
eries, and to write to scientific men — map-makers and 
geographers — about them. This was in the year 
1474 (he was by this time nearly forty years of age). 
His ideas may be put in this wise: The world is cer- 
tainly a globe; hence, by sailing west from Europe 
you can reach India. Now, Columbus had seen maps 
of Asia, in which all Marco Polo's discoveries were 
laid down. These maps made Asia much wider (east 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 155 

and west) than it really is — and so they brought 
Cathay nearer to Spain than it should be. 

Then, again, the true size of the earth was not 
known till 166G. The people of Columbus's days 
thought the earth much smaller than it really is. 
They thought a degree of longitude at the equator 
was about 58 miles; it is really nearly 70 miles. 

Now, Columbus thought Asia much wider in lon- 
gitude than it really is, and therefore he counted 
fewer degrees of longitude in the distance from 
Spain to Cathay than there are; and then, again, he 
thought each degree narrower than it is. So it 
seemed to him an easy thing to sail westward to 
Cathay. It was very important to find a sea-route 
to India, because the Mohammedans had shut up the 
land-route. From this time onward, Columbus had 
only one idea: to discover India and Cathay and 
Cipango (Japan) by sailing westward. 

To test his plan he needed men, money, and ships, 
and he was a poor sea-captain. He must then find 
some intelligent and liberal king or government to 
supply him with what he needed. He must first 
convince people that his idea was right, and then 
get his ships and men. He began by asking the 
Genoese to help him. They refused. He convinced 
the Portuguese that he was right. They refused to 
give him the ships, but sent a secret expedition of 
their own to discover the Indies by sailing westward. 
But the Portuguese sailors soon came back, afraid 
(as well they might be) of the vast ocean. 

Columbus was indignant at the treachery of the 
Portuguese, and sent one of his sons to England to 




^o£ 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 157 

ask the English King (Henry VIII) to help, while 
he himself went to Spain to beg the Spanish King 
and Qneen for their aid. This was in the year 1484 
(and Columbus was then nearly fifty years of age). 

The King was Ferdinand of Leon and Castile and 
the Queen was Ysabel (Isabella). They were busy 
with civil wars and in fighting the Moors, but Colum- 
bus got a hearing at last, and in 1487 the whole 
matter was referred to a commission to be reported 
upon. 

In 1490 (Columbus was then fifty-five years old) 
the commission decided that the plan of Columbus 
was not worthy of the King's support. After six 
years of waiting, this was the result! Columbus was 
almost in despair, but he was not yet ready to give 
up his hopes. He started to go to France, to beg 
the French King's aid. On his way he stopped at 
Palos, and at the door of the Convent of La Rabida 
(la-ra'be-da) he asked for bread and water. Here he 
talked to an intelligent priest, who had formerly been 
confessor to Queen Isabella. The priest was inter- 
ested in what he heard, and begged Columbus to 
stay a while till he should write to the Queen. 

The Queen sent a kind answer, invited Columbus 
to return to the court, and provided money for his 
expenses. On his return there were more delays, 
and finally, in 1492, Columbus decided to go to 
France. He was actually on the road thither when 
the Queen's messengers brought him back, and at 
last promised her aid. This was in April, 1492, 
when Columbus was fifty-seven years old. It had 
taken twenty-two years to obtain his opportunity. 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 



159 



The Discoveky of America 

The object of Columbus's voyage was to find a 
sea-route to Cathay, and to convert the Grand Khan 
of Tartary and all his people to Christianity. He 
carried with him a letter from the King and Queen 
of Spain to the Grand Khan, and he fully expected 
to deliver it to the Khan in person. He sailed from 




The standard of Spain set up 
by Columbus in the West In- 
dies, 1492. The golden cas- 
tles on a red background 
stand for Castile ; the red 
lions on a white field stand 
for Leon. 




The white banner of the ex. 
pedition of Columbus, 1492. 
The green cross stands for 
Christianity (green is the 
color of hope) ; F and Y 
stand for Ferdinando and 
Ysabel, the crowned King 
and Queen of Spain. ' 



Palos with three ships and one hundred and twenty 
men on August 3, 1492. 

The expedition stopped at Madeira to refit, and 
again set sail on September 6. On the 11th of Octo- 
ber they found driftwood carved in a curious fashion. 
On the next day — October 12, 1492 — after a voyage 



160 THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 

of thirty-six days, they landed on one of the islands 
of the West Indies — America was discovered! 

We have the log-book of Columbus and many of 
his papers, and yet it is not certain which one of 
the West India islands he first landed npon. It was 
probably Watling's Island. Nothing shows the perils 
of navigation in those days better than this uncer- 
tainty about the landfall of Columbus. Even with 
his papers before us, we are not sure what island 
he first saw. In this voyage he discovered Cuba, 
which he thought was the Cipango (Japan) described 
by Marco Polo; and also Santo Domingo. He re- 
turned to Lisbon, triumphant, on May 4, 1493, carry- 
ing with him gold, weapons, plants, cotton from the 
West Indies, besides nine of the natives to be exhib- 
ited to the King and to be baptized as Christian 
people. 

The rest of the story of Columbus you know. 
He is the discoverer of our continent and the most 
noted navigator of all time. His story has been 
retold here because his voyage probably would never 
have been made if it had not been for the famous 
book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, printed two 
centuries before his time. 



INDEX 



Aladdin (the Old Man of the Moun- 
tain), 57. 
Alhambra (at Granada), 26. 
Alligators, 118. 
Arabian caliphs, 15. 
Arabian travelers, 152. 
Arabs in Spain, 14. 
Ararat, Mount, 47. 
Armenia, 46. 
Arzinga, city of, 27. 
Asbestos, 75. 
Assassins, the, 57. 

Badakshan (province), 62. 

Bagdad, 16, 48. 

Balkh (city), 60. 

Barbarians are often civilized by 

the nations they conquer, 24, 

27. 
Battle of the Great Khan with the 

King of Burma, 118. 
Bible, the, 12. 
Boodha, history of, 65. 
Boodhism, 64. 
Brahmans of India, 140. 

Calico, 8. 

Caliph of Bagdad, the miserly, 48. 

Camadi, city of, 52. 

Cambaluc (Peking), 91. 

Canals of China, 127. 

Cashmere, 63. 

Cathay, 30. 



Charity of the Great Khan, 102. 
Chinese not wanted in America. 

112. 
Chipangu, Cipango (Japan), 131. 
Chitral, 63. 
Christians, 8. 

Civilization in Europe, 11. 
in the East, 10, 15. 
of the Chinese, 107. 
Coal, 77. 

Coleridge, S. T. (In Xanadu), 90. 
Columbus, Christopher, 153. 
Commerce of the Mediterranean 

Sea, 6, 14. 
Compass (mariner's), 152. 
Confucius, 108. 
Crocodiles, 118. 
Crusades, the, 8. 
Cuba discovered by Columbus 

(1492), 160. 
Customs of the Chinese, 106. 
Customs of the Tartars, 16, 79. 

Darkness, Land of, 9. 

De Rubriquis (great traveler), 8. 

Deserts, 4, 56, 73. 

Diamonds, how obtained, 139. 

Dogs that light tigers, 126. 

Eskimo, 

Europe's dread of the Mongols, 19. 

Ferdinand of Castile, King, 157. 
161 



162 



THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO 



Genoa, 42. 

Gobi, Desert of, 4, 73. 
Golconda diamonds, 139. 
Great Wall of China, the, 65. 
Gregory X, Pope, 34. 
Guzerat (India), 140. 

Hashish, 59. 

Henry the Navigator, 152, 
Herat (its destruction), 23. 
Himalayas, 3. 
Hoang-Ho river, 126. 
Hormuz (city), 53. 
Hulaku Khan, 48. 
Huts, Tartar, 17. 

Ibn Batuta (great traveler), 152^ 
India, 136. 

Japan, 131. 
Jenghiz Khan, 18, 21. 
Jewels, 8. 
Junks, 142. 

Karakoram (city), 77. 
Kashmir (Cashmere), 63. 
Kerman, kingdom of, 51. 
Kublai Khan, 34, 90. 
Kweichau (province), 124. 

Levant, the, 42. 

Madeira discovered (1418), 153. 
Marco Polo, see Polo. 
Mariner's compass, 152. 
Mohammed, 15. 
Mongols, the, 16, 20. 
Moors in Spain, 15. 
Mount Ararat, 
Muslin, 8. 

Nestorian Christians, 8, 47. 
Noah's Ark, 47. 
North Star, the, 137. 



Old Man of the Mountain, 57. 
Ormus (cityj, 53. 
Ovis Poli, 69. 

Palaces of the Great Khan, 88, 
93. 

Pamir Steppes, the, 4, 70. 

Paper money, 125. 

Pearl-fishing, 136. 

Peking (Carnbaluc), 91. 

Persia, 49. 

Poison-wind, the, 54. 

Polo, Mafteo, 1. 

Polo, Marco, throughout the book ; 
born a. d. 1254; goes to China, 
a. n. 1271; returns, a. d. 1295 
or 1296; a prisoner in Genoa.. 
1298-'99 ; writes his book, 1299 ; 
dies, 1325 ; his portrait, frontis- 
piece, 
his character, 148. 
his discoveries, 150. 

Polo, Nicolo, 1. 

Poor cared for in China, the, 102. 

Postmen, running, 99. 

Presbyter, or Prester, John, 78. 

Prince Henry the Navigator, 153. 

Queen Isabella of Castile, 157. 

Religion of the Chinese, 104. 

of the Tartars, 29. 
Rhinoceros, 124. 
Rubruquis, Friar William (great 

traveller), 8. 
Rukh, 144. 

Running footmen, 99. 
Russia, 145. 
Rusticiano, Marco's amanuensis, 44. 

Salamander, the, 75. 
Salt, mountains of, 60. 
Samarcand, 10, 15. 



INDEX 



163 



Saracens, the, 14. 
Seven Arts, the, 32. 
Shang-tu (province), 87. 
Siang-yang-fu (city), 127. 
Siberia, 145. 
Silk, 8. 
Snakes, 116. 
Spain, 15. 
Spices, 8. 
Sumatra, 136. 

Taj Mahal, 28. 

Talikan, and its salt mountains, 60. 

Tartars, their manners and cus- 
toms, 16,79. 

Trade routes, 6. 

Trees planted by the Great Khan, 
102. 



Unicorn, 123, 124. 

Venice, 42. 

Wall, the Great (of China), 85. 

Xandu palace, 90. 

Yang-tse-Kiang river, 129. 
Yellow Eiver, the, 126. 
Yezd (city), 50. 

Y'ule, Colonel (Travels of Marco 
Polo), xviii. 

Zanzibar, 143. 
Zebu, the, 52. 
j Zipangu, Zumpango (Japan). 131. 



(l) 



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APPLETONS' HOME-READING BOOKS* 

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